


Pale Revival

by Kouvei



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Family Fluff, He screwed up a lot but he's not a bad guy, Hurt/Comfort, Lots of Radiance-induced Trauma, Pale King Cares About the Vessel, Pale King isn't a terrible parent, Post-Embrace the Void Ending (Hollow Knight), The Knight is Called Ghost (Hollow Knight)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:42:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25500820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kouvei/pseuds/Kouvei
Summary: Ghost returns to the White Palace to retrieve the Pale King's body, only to find he's not quite dead. Bringing the king back to the real world, they rebuild Hallownest while adjusting to a new family life while issues from the past keep dredging up.
Relationships: The Pale King/White Lady (Hollow Knight)
Comments: 117
Kudos: 616





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I really just wrote this for fun. Also, the telepathy in this story is basically just a mash-up of thoughts and feelings trying to be put into words, so the grammar in those parts not being correct is intentional. It's like when you think in words and sometimes your brain gets caught on a loop or skips over something or focuses on one thought more than others.

“GHOST!”

Said vessel shade-dashed away, a piece of fruit clutched tightly in one claw, their sister in hot pursuit. You would think the Lord of Shades, embodiment of the void, strongest higher being in Hallownest and potentially all of existence, would be able to outrun one angry half-spider. You would think wrong.

Pinning them down with a foot on their neck, Hornet yanked the fruit out of their hand. “You had your share, little ghost. Take mine again and I’ll web you to the wall.”

Ghost flashed back to that one time in Deepnest and nodded in surrender. “ _Sorry,_ ” they projected into her mind, an ability they had inherited from their father. Complex thoughts were… hard to convey telepathically. Many thoughts, emotions, and other tangents the mind went on got in the way, so they weren’t exactly capable of being very verbose. There were also some bugs that were just incapable of understanding them, most of the recovered nobility was like that, so they would usually use some kind of sign language as well.

She huffed and quickly scarfed down the fruit as she got off her sibling. “If you’re still hungry, go foraging.”

“ _Ghost done being a pain?_ ” Ghost jumped as Hollow dropped down from above, apparently having been following the chase. The former not-really-empty vessel had finally started “talking” only a week ago, and that was after months of TLC and recovering.

“On this one issue, yes,” Hornet replied.

“ _Mean, mean, mean. Sibling mean. Sister meaner.”_ Ghost pouted.

“If you’re bored, how about you find something to occupy yourself?” Hornet suggested.

“ _Bored, bored, very bored. No adventures. Bored,_ ” lamented Ghost.

“ _Void? Relaxing, quiet, fun?_ _”_ Hollow suggested.

Ghost hummed and chirped as they considered the idea. It wasn’t that the vessels were incapable of making sounds, but they were incapable of speech. Something about void and emptiness and yada yada. Hollow preferred to not make any noise at all, but Ghost had no such qualms. “ _Maybe…_ ” they relented.

“ _Come with?_ ” Hollow asked, tilting their head to one side.

Ghost happily nodded then glanced at Hornet with a questioning cock of their head. She shook her head. “I have business to attend to in Deepnest, which you have already kept me from with your shenanigans.” She paused, then added, “A part of me wants to thank you for that, but you don’t need anything more to feed your ego.”

Hollow let out a silent laugh, only noticeable by the narrowing of their eyes and the shaking of their shoulders while Ghost tried to playfully smack their sister, only for her to skitter out of the way. She nodded at them then swung away on a thread of silk as Ghost waved goodbye. Together, the two void siblings made their way down to the abyss, stopping at a few hot springs on the way.

Finally, they arrived at the top of the lighthouse. Hollow sat down on the top, staring out across the sea of void. Ghost glanced down at the empty abyss, then took a flying leap and dove into the inky liquid. They abandoned their form and let the void take them. The change was almost instantaneous, and once they were sure they had stabilized, rose from the sea. Liquid void dripped from their arms, tentacles, and horns as they towered above their older sibling. They remembered how alarmed Hollow had been when they had first seen this form, but then again, they didn’t know it was Ghost behind the eight glowing eyes at the time. Now, Hollow barely even reacted to the sight.

Ghost bent down and rested a pair of crossed arms against the edge of the lighthouse and laid their head in the crook of their elbow. Hollow reached out their hand and ran it down the Lord of Shades’s face. Ghost couldn’t help but purr in response and closed their eyes in pleasure.

Eventually, the strokes became shorter and lighter. Ghost opened their eyes again and stared questioningly at their sibling, wondering why they were getting less cuddles. Hollow was staring into nothingness, face blank as they sat deep in thought. Ghost butted their head against their hand, snapping Hollow out of whatever reverie they had fallen into.

“ _Sorry._ ”

“ _Upset? Tired? What are you thinking about?_ ” Ghost pried.

Hollow hesitated to reply, but withdrew their hand and instead used it to rub the shoulder where their other arm had once been. “ _Father._ ”

Ghost’s eyes narrowed. They had… mixed feelings about their father. They wouldn’t outright say they hated him, but they certainly wouldn’t say they loved him or even had neutral feelings. Hollow, however, still adored their father, which was beyond Ghost or Hornet’s understanding. They supposed it was because Hollow had actually spent their childhood with the king, whereas Hornet only spent less than half of hers with him and Ghost had never even spoken to him. Their mother, the White Lady, or Root as was her name, assured them that he was not a bad bug, that he had made mistakes in the name of saving their kingdom, but that did nothing to convince Ghost.

Finally, they spoke again. “ _Why do you think about him?_ ”

 _“I miss him._ ” Hollow’s grip on their shoulder tightened. “ _I want him back. I miss him. I want him back._ ” That train of thought continued for a few more seconds before Hollow cut it off, but void was now spilling from their eyes.

Ghost brought up a tentacle and used it to pat their sibling on the head, as their hands were far too large for the task. Hollow had not taken the loss of their father well when Hornet and Ghost had told them. Their grieving was not yet over, it seemed.

Hollow remained silent for another few hours, then finally stood up. “ _Have to go. Make dinner. Come home when ready to eat._ ” Ghost held out their hands and Hollow jumped into their cupped palms. They slithered out of the sea, the lower half of their body a serpent-like tail. They let themselves grow as they reached the opening of the abyss until they were tall enough to reach the platform to the basin. Hollow stepped off, their feet clicking against the metal, then left without a thought. Ghost watched them leave, and wanted to go back into the comfort of the abyss, but something stopped them.

Their thoughts went to the palace grounds, and that broken kingsmould containing the dream of the White Palace. The king’s body lay within those imaginary walls. No gravesite, no monument, just abandoned in the throne room. That couldn’t be easy for their sibling to think about. Maybe if they could bring the corpse into the real world, if they could hold a funeral, maybe it could help their sibling move on at last. But in order to get there… just thinking of it brought shivers down their spine. Forget the grand kingdom of Hallownest, the Pale King’s true greatest legacy was instilling a crippling fear of buzzsaws into the void itself. But if it was for their older sibling, they could suck it up.

Ghost grabbed the edge of the platform and focused. The immense void entity compressed into a small, swirling ball of void, which quickly shaped itself into the shape of a small horned vessel. They dashed the whole way to the spot of the doorway of the vanished palace. The kingsmould hadn’t changed at all from when they were last here, unaware of what awaited them. This time, they knew what would happen, what they would have to go through. They let out a sigh as they pulled out the Dream Nail and wondered whether or not they would prefer to kill Absolute Radiance again compared to this.

…

Absolute Radiance. Definitely Absolute Radiance. Absolute Radiance five times in a row. Maybe not the rest of the pantheon, but just her would be fine. Of course, if they went head-first into a buzzsaw one more time, that opinion might just change.

So incensed they were in their own mind, they didn’t even notice when they fell into a room with two dead kingsmoulds, slain by Ghost’s own nail. They could have cried for joy. They dashed the rest of the way to the throne room, only stopping once they were in the doorway.

The Pale King’s corpse laid where Ghost had left it. Well, left it after stabbing it a few times in vengeance for having to go through his unholy abomination of thorns and buzzsaws. With some hesitation, they approached the form. They pulled the Pale King up and set him back upon his throne. The body slumped and fell over, so Ghost had to pull him upright again. It took a few tries before the Pale King was balanced again. They rested a claw against his face and stared into the empty eyes. He didn’t look so powerful like this. Certainly nothing like the imposing figure he presented himself as.

Ghost had no idea how they were going to get him out of here. They hadn’t even stopped to wonder if it was possible in the first place. But they had killed the Radiance, they had saved their sibling, and taken the essence and power of the freaking void into themself. “Possible” was a word that had long since stopped applying to them.

They glanced down at the Dream Nail. Maybe if they hit him with it while holding him, they’d leave together? Last time they had just gotten an imprint of his desperate, pleading hope, but it was worth a try, at least. They charged it up and let it swing. Essence exploded from the Pale King and the world went white.

When the world cleared, the scene had changed. They were still in the White Palace, but it was brighter, cleaner, no thorns, and definitely no hum of buzzsaws. Ghost stared around at the shining grandeur, confused. Eventually, they started walking down the hallways. They didn’t know where they were going, but something had to be around here, right?

They had been walking for a while when a sound caught their attention. It was soft, but in the silence of the palace, it sounded almost deafening. Ghost dashed toward it, taking a few wrong turns as they tried to triangulate the noise, before they finally stopped in the doorway of what looked like a training room.

The first thing they saw was a small Hollow fighting a dummy. They struck the armored sack with their nail over and over again, not appearing aware of anything else. The second thing they saw was the figure staring at the memory of the vessel. Ghost froze.

The Pale King, looking very much alive, rested his head on his claw, tail coiled around his feet. Ghost didn’t think he even noticed their presence until, after a while, he spoke.

“Leave us be.”


	2. Chapter 2

Ghost took a hesitant step forward, then another. They saw the Pale King close his eyes, then in a harsher tone than before, he ordered, “We said, leave us be!”

Ghost stopped in their tracks. The king let out a sigh, never turning to look at Ghost, never letting their eyes stray from the Hollow memory. He reached out his arms and the Hollow memory stopped practicing. They sheathed their nail and trotted dutifully over to their father. When they got there, the king picked them up in his arms and pulled them close to his chest. “...this is all the Radiance left me with. It’ll take me too long to recover this memory if I lose it, so I can’t let another take its place.” Ghost noticed he had dropped the royal “we” in his speech.

 _“Left you with?”_ Ghost asked.

Thankfully, the Pale King heard them, but flinched as the words entered his mind. “I burned myself up to stop her. Or at least to weaken her, to buy more time.” He ran his hand down the Hollow memory’s horns. He didn’t seem to realize that it was another bug who had spoken. “I thought they were empty. I tested them so many times. I had to be sure, but you surprised me, didn’t you, little one?” he asked of the memory. “You knew I needed a hollow vessel. You wanted to make me happy, you wanted to make me proud. You were such a good actor.” He closed his eyes. “I wished you weren’t empty. Not at first, you understand, I still needed to save our kingdom, but as you grew…”

He shook his head, as if trying to get rid of bad thoughts. “I tried to save everyone. I failed. All I could do was try to negate her power with my own, everything I had. I entered her realm, and burned myself up from the inside. I weakened her, I bought time, but I couldn’t kill her. Now I’m left with the tatters of my memory, and the knowledge of the devastation I couldn’t prevent.”

He opened his eyes and looked down at the Hollow memory. “I loved you so much,” he choked out. “I’m sorry, my child. I am so sorry for what I did to you.”

Ghost reached out a hand, then withdrew it. They took another step forward. The Pale King didn’t object this time, so they moved closer and closer until they were standing side-by-side with him. The Pale King just nuzzled the top of memory Hollow’s head. “I wish more vessels had been born with life. Maybe one of them could have been empty… taken the burden from you, my little one.”

He didn’t know there were other vessels? Ghost tilted their head to one side. They had assumed it was a conscious choice to ignore the others, but there were a lot of stillborn vessels… it wasn’t unreasonable to assume he wasn’t aware of their existence. Ghost reached up and tugged at the Pale King’s sleeve. Finally, the king turned to look at them, eyes full of anger until he took in the small vessel. “Hello, little one…” he muttered, sounding confused. “Who might you be?”

_“Ghost.”_

He blinked in surprise at the answer. “Ghost… that’s a nice name.” He glanced back at the Hollow memory, then back at Ghost. “You’re a vessel, aren’t you?”

“ _Yes._ ” Ghost tugged on his sleeve. “ _Wake up._ ”

The Pale King shook his head. “The power I poured into the Radiance won’t return until she dies. I can’t awaken while she still lives.”

“ _She doesn’t. I killed her. You can wake up now,_ ” Ghost insisted.

The Pale King let out a sigh. “If that were true…” he murmured wistfully.

Ghost huffed and stomped their foot. “ _It is! Wake up!_ ”

The Hollow memory tugged at the Pale King’s robes, drawing his attention. He lifted the memory up and touched foreheads with it. “Don’t worry, my child, you are safe here. No one will hurt you.”

A lumafly lantern went off in Ghost’s head. “ _Hollow needs you._ ”

The Pale King glanced at them, confused. “Hollow?”

Ghost realized their mistake. “ _The Pure Vessel? The real one?_ ” They pointed at the memory for emphasis. _“They miss you.”_

“The Radiance has the real one, I can’t help them any more than I already have,” the Pale King replied, dismissing the idea outright.

Running out of patience, Ghost jumped up on the king’s lap, slightly displacing the memory, and grabbed him by the clasp on his cloak. Their frustration brought their thoughts into clearer focus. _“The Radiance is DEAD. I KILLED her myself. Hollow is free, they are fine, and they want you back. I did not jump through all your thorns and buzzsaws to not drag you out of here. Do the right thing and wake up so you can be there for them!”_ Ghost angrily pointed at the memory. _“That’s not them! That’s just a memory you’re holding onto!”_

The Pale King looked at the memory and cupped its face. “If I let them go… if I fail them again…”

“ _You will fail them again if you stay here._ ” Ghost insisted. “ _Mother wants you back too… probably._ ”

“My Root?” the Pale King blinked. “I haven’t dreamt of her in so long…”

 _“Wake up and see her, idiot!”_ Ghost smacked him on the head. _“There’s also Hornet! Did you forget her?”_

The king blinked at him again, as if he was trying to clear his mind. “Are you real?” Ghost frantically nodded. The Pale King looked down at memory Hollow, caressed their face, then set them down. “Return to your training, my child. I… I have business to attend to.” The memory dutifully trotted off and the Pale King let out a shaky breath. “I do not believe you, but I couldn’t live with myself if I abandoned all hope.”

Ghost shrugged. As long as he woke up, they couldn’t care less what his reasons were. They grabbed his hand and pulled out the Dream Nail. The Pale King’s eyes widened as he saw the blade. “Perhaps I should believe you,” he muttered. “You need not strike me with it, I doubt it would do much good. I have a better idea.” He started to leave, but stopped at the doorway and turned back around. Ghost followed his gaze to the Hollow memory. They grabbed his hand and tried to pull him out of the room, but the king stood firm. “Please, I just need a moment. If you are another trick of my mind, it will be a long time before I recover such a nice memory of them again.”

Ghost paused, then stood beside him, watching the memory. It was several minutes before their father spoke again. “I’m ready. Let’s be off.” Without looking back, the Pale King strode down the hallway, leading Ghost… somewhere. Wherever it was, the king seemed to know exactly how to get there, confidently striding down maze-like corridors until they stood at a precipice Ghost did recognize.

The Pale King stared up at the entrance to the White Palace. In the real world, they would be entering the basin but here… Ghost tugged the Pale King toward the door but once again, he wouldn’t move. “Perhaps you should open it,” he suggested. “It’s always been locked to me.”

Ghost pulled more insistently and the king relented, letting Ghost drag him just in front of the door. Ghost grabbed the handle and twisted. The door swung open without any resistance and the world went white.

When they came to, they were lying on the floor like usual when they exited a dream. Ghost pushed themself up and glanced around. They were back in the throne room, hardly surprising. They looked at the throne, where the Pale King was stirring. The corpse didn’t look like one anymore. There was no more broken mask or withered limbs, instead, he looked very much like he did in the dream just a little more worn down. The king blinked his eyes open and rubbed them with one claw. He stared down at Ghost, then looked around the throne room as if he couldn’t believe he was really here. Although, if what he said was true, this was probably another one of those “possible doesn’t apply to Ghost” moments so his disbelief was justified.

Finally the Pale King looked down at Ghost. “This is real,” he muttered. “You’re real.”

 _“Technically, still dreaming,”_ Ghost reminded.

He gave them a look. “You know what I meant.” He started to stand up, then collapsed on the floor. Ghost jumped up, alarmed, and rushed to his side. The king propped himself up, hissing. He put his hand to his thorax and upper abdomen and felt around. “It seems I was injured while asleep.” Ghost froze in fear as the Pale King forced himself into an upright sitting position. “Do you know how that could have happened?” Ghost looked away and shrugged their shoulders, trying not to look guilty. “I thought I took enough precautions to protect myself…” he muttered before dismissing it. “No matter, there are more important things to attend to right now. I’ll be fine, just let me rest for a moment.”

Ghost sat down next to him while the Pale King propped himself against the seat of the throne. After a while, the king suddenly started violently. “You said you were a vessel, correct?” Ghost nodded. The Pale King stared at them and the look in his eyes suddenly changed. “You’re my child…” He reached out and ran his hand down Ghost’s horn, then pulled the small higher being into a hug. Ghost let out a squeak of surprise, but didn’t pull away. This was… nice. Not what they expected from a meeting with their father, that was for sure, but it was a welcome surprise that the vaguely asshole-ish Pale King wasn’t as awful as they had painted him in their mind. With a little bit of caution, Ghost hugged back.

The Pale King pulled them over so they were sitting on his lap, which might have been painful given his injuries but if it was, he certainly didn’t show it. “Let me have a look at you.” He reached a hand underneath their chin so he could tilt their head up. Ghost couldn’t tell what he was looking for, if anything at all, but he looked pleased nonetheless. “I see you’ve inherited some of my mental abilities.”

 _“Hollow too,”_ Ghost informed him. The Pale King looked surprised but nodded his head.

“Well, I suppose they wouldn’t have ever let me know that,” he muttered. “Do they communicate like you do now?” Ghost nodded in confirmation. The Pale King smiled. “That’s some comfort.” He fell back into silence, occasionally patting Ghost’s head or horns. “Do you know how to relay memories?” he asked at last.

Ghost shook their head then tilted it to one side in confusion. The Pale King waved it off. “No matter, I can help you. I need to know what happened when I was gone, and since you claim to have killed the Radiance, I have no doubt you have most if not all of the necessary information. I’m not asking for personal memories, just enough to know what has transpired.” The Pale King lowered his head so his forehead touched with Ghost’s. “Just think about those memories and let me into your mind.”

With some trepidation, Ghost complied. They thought about their first steps into Dirtmouth, the enemies they fought, the bugs they met. They thought about meeting the Godseeker, ascending the pantheons, realizing that if they defeated the Radiance in there then maybe their sibling could live. They thought about the Pantheon of Hallownest, fighting Absolute Radiance, and ascending into the Lord of Shades. When they felt a prodding in their mind, they let it pass without any resistance. After a few seconds, the Pale King jerked away.

“You did WHAT?!” For a quick moment, Ghost feared they hadn’t hidden their quest for the kingsoul charm well enough, but those thoughts were quickly dashed. “How— I mean, what— how in Hallownest did you— why in Hallownest did you—” He took a deep breath, then pointed at Ghost. “Hang on, I need to make sure that I read your mind correctly.You killed the Radiance in her most powerful, idealized form? And then proceeded to unify the void under your will?”

Ghost nodded.

“Sweet glory…” the Pale King muttered. He made frantic gestures around his head and stared muttering to himself, “Higher beings have difficulty having children even with lower beings. Root and I together should have been impossible, our stillborns are proof of that. I used to think it was fate dealing us a bad hand, now I think it was nature’s way of nerfing our kind if you are what can come out of our union.”

Ghost wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not, and they weren’t sure if the Pale King knew if it was or not either. After a few moments, the Pale King let out a puff of air. “Alright, I am calm again. I apologize for the outburst, but that was… not what I was expecting.” He gently nudged Ghost off him and stood up at last, brushing his robes off. “Moreover, the kingdom itself seems to be in great disrepair,” he mused. “It’ll take years to fully recover, in the best scenario.”

Ghost tugged at his sleeve and pointed back the way they had came. The Pale King stared down at the vessel then at where they were pointing, and let out a bitter laugh. “Oh. Right. My defenses. Come with me, we need to deal with those.”

Deal with them? Ghost followed the Pale King as he stepped behind the throne. Pulling out a key from his robes, he fitted it in a slot in the wall and twisted. A section of wall slide aside, revealing a small side room. Dream symbols littered the walls and there was something that looked like a large lore tablet in the center of the room. The Pale King entered it and waved his hand in a “follow me” gesture to Ghost. The Lord of Shades got up on their tip-toes and tried to read the writing on the tablet, but it didn’t look like any words they knew. The Pale King ran his finger down some markings on the side and the scribbles lit up. He placed his hand in the center of the tablet and made a turning motion. The ground and walls shook violently, but the Pale King seemed unperturbed.

“That should’ve done it, we don’t want the buzzsaws manifesting in reality,” the Pale King commented.

 _“Reality?”_ Ghost asked, signing along even as they pushed the question into the Pale King’s mind.

“I didn’t pull the palace into the dream realm without a way to reverse it. I learned my lesson on that one…” He sounded smug on the first sentence but muttered the second one bitterly. Without another word, he set both of his hands on the tablet and closed his eyes. It started to glow brighter, and brighter, and brighter until the whole room was filled with blinding light. The floor started to shake, even worse than before. Ghost steadied themself against the wall, but that wasn’t enough and they fell to the ground. They covered their head and shut their eyes, waiting for it to be over.

Eventually, the shaking stopped. They opened their eyes and looked up at the Pale King. He had sunk down to the floor, but his hands were still on the tablet. As they watched, he removed his hands and stood back up, bending over the tablet in apparent pain. He glanced down at Ghost on the floor and his eyes widened in alarm. “Are you alright, my child?” He moved to help them up but keeled over almost immediately.

Ghost jumped up and ran to his side as the king shook with the effort of just staying somewhat upright. “Don’t worry about me, I just… haven’t been in reality for an age. I’ll be fine in a moment.” He sucked a deep breath in and stood up, leaving the room before Ghost could stop him. They dashed after him and overtook him a matter of moments, standing in front of the king to block his path.

The Pale King looked a little irritated. “I will rest later, little one.”

 _“Tired, hurt, weak, go to sleep. Bring siblings and Mother here. Rest,”_ Ghost insisted, but the Pale King shook his head.

“Ghost, I will either go with you or leave after you’ve left,” the Pale King countered. “And considering I don’t know where I’m going, I doubt you’d find the latter preferable.” He stepped around Ghost and continued onward. “I have spent what feels like an eternity trapped in my own memories and failures. I do not have the patience to wait any longer.”

Ghost huffed angrily, but dashed after him. They didn’t try to stop him this time, though. Instead, they took his hand and walked with him out of the palace.


	3. Chapter 3

The Pale King glanced around the palace grounds, taking it all in. Ghost noticed the kingsmould that had been lying broken in front of the entrance was gone now. He let out a sigh. “It’s odd to see no one here,” he muttered. “No guards, no knights, no retainers, no nobles…”

_ “Retainers in dream?” _ Ghost asked.

“Hm?” The Pale King stared at them for a few seconds until he realized what they were asking. “Oh, those constructs. No, they weren’t real bugs. Just creations of my mind, like the buzzsaws.”

_ “Something wrong with mind, to think up buzzsaws,” _ Ghost griped.

“Again, it was to keep people out,” the Pale King reminded.

Ghost tugged at his sleeve.  _ “Stagway?” _

The Pale King eyed the direction toward the stag station warily. “Stags would notice me, it’s why I’ve never ridden the stagways myself. I’d rather not have the bug carrying me at high speeds distracted by their passenger.”

_ “Hurt,” _ Ghost reminded.  _ “Stag nice. Doesn’t care who you are.” _

“It’d be a chance to see the kingdom again if we went there by foot,” the Pale King argued.

_ “Dirtmouth,” _ Ghost deadpanned.

“The town on the surface?” the Pale King asked. Ghost nodded. He seemed to momentarily reconsider his stance on walking there, but eventually shook his head. “Longer trip than I was expecting, but I can handle it.”

_ “Stubborn. Stubborn and stupid,” _ Ghost complained.  _ “Ride on the stagway.” _

The Pale King sighed. “You’re not letting this go, are you?”

_ “I tend not to.” _

The Pale King shook his head and reluctantly walked with Ghost toward the stag station. “I suppose my power is diminished right now…” he mused, sounding like he was trying to convince himself. “Although he’ll still notice my appearance…”

For the love of God. Ghost rummaged around in their cloak and pulled out a blanket Hornet had made for them for when they decided to sleep outside or on a bench. They offered it to the Pale King, who stared at it for a few seconds before he realized what they were suggesting. “Oh! Thank you, little one.” He brought the blanket over his head so it acted as a hood and tied it around his throat so it turned into a hooded cape. Suddenly he froze. “Where is my…” He felt around the clasp of his cloak, apparently not finding what he was looking for. Ghost stared at him for a few seconds then realized what was bothering him and felt a pit form in their stomach. So much for keeping it a secret.

_ “Um, if you’re looking for your half of the kingsoul, I sort of needed it to kill the Radiance?” _ Ghost confessed hesitantly.

The Pale King stared at them for several seconds, his brain processing, then sighed. “You’re the one who stabbed me, aren’t you?”

_ “Mad about the buzzsaws. Also thought you were dead.” _

“Your first thought was to stab a corpse?” the Pale King asked incredulously.

_ “Been to Deepnest. Fought corpse creepers,” _ Ghost weakly excused.

The king sucked in a breath. “You know what? Fair enough.” He shook his head and muttered, “You’re like a baby Hornet if she never grew out of her hyper phase.”

_ That _ got Ghost’s attention.  _ “Hyper Hornet?” _

“That little spiderling caused more damage to the White Palace than if it were under siege,” the Pale King replied with a defeated laugh. He rubbed the clasp of his cloak and sighed again. “I’ll just have to make another one, that’s going to take a lot of power I don’t have right now. Although, I suppose if my Root gave you her half she won’t mind being without it for a little while longer.”

Ghost grabbed his hand and tugged him along. The Pale King squeezed their hand affectionately. The Lord of Shades glanced up at him for a second before looking back ahead. In their head, they tried to sort through their own emotions along with all the fallout from this.

They had no doubt the Pale King wanted his throne back. As far as Ghost was concerned, he could have it. Hollow had shown reluctance in taking up the mantle, even if they were prepared to do it eventually. Hornet refused to even consider putting herself on Hallownest’s throne. Something about Deepnest having an issue with one ruler holding both thrones, even if it was their own monarch. The White Lady maintained that she would only take the throne if all of her children, of which she included Hornet in the count, wouldn’t become the next monarch. Basically, putting the Pale King in charge again might be the best outcome in this situation, especially because it would give them all a lot of time to figure out the succession order.

Their thoughts turned to Hollow. They knew they would be overjoyed. There’d probably be a lot of emotions to sort through, but overall they’d be happy about it. Hornet could go either way. She was a closed book about their shared father whenever he came up. She comforted Hollow through their grief, of course, but she never really talked about her own opinion on the king. And knowing Hornet, her not saying much probably meant whatever her feelings were, they had to be pretty strong ones.

Ghost themself… didn’t quite know what to think anymore. When he was just a corpse, a memory, they never needed to fully face their feelings. He was gone, it didn’t matter how exactly they felt, but things were different now. They never hated him, they actually respected him on some level, but they never liked him either. There was always something there… something…

Ghost struggled to put a name to the feeling. Resentment would probably be the word. They had resented the Pale King for so many reasons, especially after everything he did to save Hallownest, all in vain. They had often wondered if the gravity of his actions mattered to him. There was also a lot of hurt at his abandonment of them back in the abyss, but if he really didn’t know they had ever even lived, then they really couldn’t hold that against him. All their preconceived notions and opinions couldn’t hold up to reality. His first reaction to realizing they were his child was to be immediately parental, and protective which Ghost privately thought was hilarious. He knew they were the Lord of Shades and still worried about their safety, apparently above his own. Overall, his actions so far should make them overjoyed to have him back, but they still felt cautious. Maybe they were just jaded.

Ghost stopped at the edge of the platform and withdrew their nail. The Pale King looked at them in confusion until they started hitting the bell. Repeatedly. Then he just smiled as they incessantly rung the bell until the rumbling of the stag running through the tunnels made them stop and grab the Pale King’s hand. They couldn’t resist one more cheeky ring as the Old Stag slowed to a stop. Ghost waved excitedly at him and he inclined his head toward them in return. “Hello again, small one. I do not believe I have met your friend.”

The Pale King pulled the hood further over his face and said nothing. Ghost thought that was probably for the best. His voice was… unique to say the least. It almost sounded like multiple people were talking at once. If he said one word, his identity would be out. Ghost signed out, “I’ll introduce you later. We’d like to go to Dirtmouth.”

The Old Stag nodded. “Climb aboard then and we’ll be off.”

Ghost jumped up on the front seat then reached out for the Pale King. He took one of their hands and climbed up on the back seat. Ghost noticed him grip the back of the seat in front of him. The Old Stag stretched his legs for a second before launching off. The air in the tunnels whooshed around them as the stag thundered down the path. Ghost just sat back and enjoyed the bouncy ride, occasionally looking back at the Pale King to see how he was doing. He seemed tense the whole ride, but a few minutes before they came to a stop, he had finally leaned back in his seat.

Ghost jumped off at the Dirtmouth platform and the Pale King followed them. They waved goodbye to the stag and pulled the king toward the elevator. Once they were going up, the Pale King spoke again. “Is it very crowded out there?”

Ghost shrugged.  _ “It’s late, probably not. Small town, not many bugs. Not many at all out now, if any.” _ The Pale King nodded, accepting the answer. Ghost peeked out the door just to be safe, but the streets were empty. Even Elderbug had gone back to his house by now. Ghost waved the Pale King on and trotted down the roads lit by streetlamps.

Dirtmouth had a lot of abandoned houses, less now thankfully, but the three of them had picked one of the largest ones to call home. This was mostly because there weren’t many Hollow could live comfortably in without hitting their horns on the ceiling constantly, but it was nice to have the space, too.

Ghost opened the door when they arrived. The lights were on so they hadn’t gone to bed yet, good. No one was in the parlor, and they supposed their siblings were in the dining room finishing up dinner. The Pale King stumbled over to the couch and collapsed on it. He looked exhausted and Ghost started to suspect he was even worse off than he had been letting on.  _ “Stay here, rest,” _ Ghost ordered, signing along for emphasis.  _ “I’ll tell Hornet and Hollow you’re here. Be better if they heard it from me rather than you just seeing you.” _

“Very well, try not to be too long,” he replied, resting his head on one of the armrests. Ghost nodded and dashed into the dining room. As they expected, Hornet and Hollow were finishing up dinner, with an untouched plate at Ghost’s usual place.

Hornet glanced at Ghost, looking like she was about to reprimand them before she noticed their frantic signing. “Ghost, slow down. What happened?”

Ghost jumped up on the table and telepathically spoke, getting more and more excited as they went along.  _ “Went back to the White Palace again. Hollow sad. Wanted to bring back body to bury. Funeral. Closure. Not quite dead. Brought back. In parlor. Injured, sort of my fault. But back, so it’s fine.” _

Hollow and Hornet looked at them in equal confusion. “Slow down, your thoughts are too chaotic,” Hornet ordered while rubbing her temple.

Trying to collect their thoughts, Ghost repeated,  _ “Bring back the Pale King’s body to bury. Give Hollow some closure. Thought he was dead. Sure he was dead. Wasn’t quite dead. Brought back alive Pale King. Injured and in parlor.” _

Hornet and Hollow froze. For a few seconds, neither of them spoke or moved. Hollow was the one that broke the silence, metaphorically.  _ “Father alive?” _

_ “Used his power to weaken Radiance. Burned himself out and trapped in own head,” _ Ghost said as a further explanation.  _ “In parlor, if you want to see him.” _

Hollow picked Ghost up and caught them in a hug for a few seconds, then released them and dashed into the parlor. Hornet and Ghost followed behind and arrived just in time to see Hollow standing in the doorway. Ghost noticed Hornet’s eyes widen, as if she hadn’t quite believed them until she saw him with her own eyes. Her hand moved as if to grab her nail, apparently on instinct, but she consciously stopped herself. It wasn’t like she wanted to hurt him, which Ghost thought was a good sign, more like muscle memory that kicked in whenever something unexpected happened. In both Deepnest and Hallownest, that kind of reflex was essential for survival during the Infection and was only marginally less useful now.

Hollow was visibly shaking as they stared at their father. The Pale King stared back, not saying anything. Knowing that they weren’t paying any attention to them, Ghost reached up to touch Hollow’s arm to try and ground their sibling a little. However, before they could make contact, Hollow teleported across the room in an instant and caught their father in a desperate hug. The Pale King quickly returned the gesture, pulling Hollow close to his chest. Hollow slowly lowered their head and sunk to the floor so eventually their head was pressed against the Pale King’s chest with their horns framing his face. The Pale King leaned down and affectionately nuzzled the top of Hollow’s head, like he had to the dream version. “I am so, so sorry, my child.”

_ “Safe. Home. Father. Happy. Happy. Happy! Safe! Alive!” _ Hollow was barely even using words in their mental communication, more emotions and broken, excited snippets of thoughts.  _ “Failed. Sorry. Couldn’t contain. Failed.” _

The Pale King noticeably tensed up, then shook his head. “No, you didn’t. You were given an impossible task and you did the best you could. You weren’t empty, you never were, and you couldn’t fully contain the Radiance. You did better than anyone else could have in your situation.” Tears were falling from his eyes as he ran his hand down Hollow’s horn in a comforting motion. Hornet and Ghost exchanged a look. It was clear from Hornet’s expression she had never seen him cry either. “It was my fault I didn’t notice you weren’t empty, that I couldn’t tell. I know you hid it, you hid it very well, but… a part of me guessed. I thought I was projecting, seeing things that weren’t there. I brushed it off, and I will regret that until the day I actually die. Everything that happened, the Infection escaping, the pain you went through, was my fault, not yours. Never yours.”

Hollow started to cry, black tears falling from their eyes.  _ “Thank you. Thank you. Missed you. Missed you so much.” _

“I missed you, too,” the Pale King muttered.

Hornet took a few steps forward. “I would argue the Radiance herself holds most of that blame. Not that you don’t deserve some.”

The Pale King looked up at her, stared for a few seconds, then untangled an arm from the hug and reached out to her. “You’ve grown so much since I last saw you.”

Hornet stood still for several long seconds, just staring at him. Eventually, she slowly walked across the room and accepted the hug, burying her face into his shoulder. She didn’t say anything, didn’t seem to want to talk, and he picked up on that, staying silent in turn.

Ghost watched them for a little before moving closer. They wanted to join the group hug too, dammit. The Pale King looked down at them as they approached and held out their arms expectantly. He smiled and reached down another arm to bring them into the hug. It was at that point Ghost realized he had more than two arms. Four, probably, although they hadn’t noticed the fourth one yet.

They rested their head on the Pale King’s other shoulder and closed their eyes. Eventually, they felt him slump over and jumped away in surprise. Their siblings had done likewise and Hollow and Hornet were even holding him upright. His head was lolled forward, eyes closed. Hornet put her hand on his neck, then sighed. “He probably passed out from exhaustion. Hollow, help me bring him to the empty bedroom upstairs—” Before she had finished speaking, Hollow had picked him up and was trying to hold him with one arm. They didn't seem to want to sling him over one shoulder like they usually did when carrying someone. Hornet just silently used her silk to tie him to Hollow so they wouldn’t drop him.

They brought him upstairs and laid him down on the spare bed, Hornet and Ghost following behind. Hollow pulled the threads free and discarded the webbing on the ground, before tucking the Pale King in under the covers. Hollow sat down on the floor next to him, staring at their father.

Ghost tapped them on the shoulder.  _ “Happy now?” _

Hollow inclined their head toward them.  _ “Thank you.” _ The words were accompanied by a much stronger feeling than they usually would.

Hornet took a seat next to her two siblings. “Ghost… I’m really not sure if we should leave you to your own devices more often or keep you on a leash.”

_ “Done good things when left alone so far,” _ Ghost protested.

“So far, but I fully believe you could destroy all life on the planet by popping a balloon at this point,” Hornet teased. She looked back at their sleeping father and sighed. “In all seriousness, this was not what I was expecting to deal with today, or ever.”

_ “Okay with it?” _ Ghost purposefully didn’t project that thought to Hollow.

“I do not hate our father, I was quite fond of him. I was certainly closer with my mother, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like him,” Hornet replied. Ghost had a feeling she was skimming over some things, but Hornet never talked about her emotions much. “There are several issues his return and continued existence causes, however. Perhaps issues isn’t the word… factors? New developments?” She shook her head. “In any case, Ghost. The moment his return reaches the ears of the masses, none of us will have a moment’s rest from everything that needs to be done.”

Hornet pushed herself off the ground and stretched. “It’ll be a long day tomorrow, regardless of what happens. We should get some rest. Bring your dinner up to your room and eat in bed, Ghost. You take a while to get to sleep.”

_ “I’m staying here,” _ Hollow piped up suddenly.  _ “Not going to bed.” _

Hornet gave them a glare. “You need to sleep.”

_ “Want to be here.” _

Hornet put her hand to her temple, then sighed. “Very well. I’ll bring pillows and blankets so you can make a nest on the floor, but you need to fall asleep. Deal?” Hollow eagerly nodded. “I’ll stay here, too. To make sure he’s alright and that you actually go to sleep.”

_ “Me too!” _ Ghost insisted. Hornet just sighed again.

“Fine. Get your dinner then help me with the blankets.”

Ghost didn’t realize how many pillows and blankets they had until most of them were laid out on the floor in a soft, cushy nest. Almost all of them were made by Hornet, along with about ninety-percent of everything else made of fabric in the house. Hollow was curled up in a ball, covered by blankets with a pillow under their head, fast asleep. Hornet had only recently fallen asleep, having forced herself to stay awake until Hollow fell asleep. Ghost put their empty plate aside and collapsed on a mountain of pillows. They glanced up at the bed, then back down at their siblings, and closed their eyes, happy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you so much to everyone who commented! I really appreciate it and I love reading them!  
> Second, I'm beginning to realize it might not be a bad idea for me to write a fic about all that happened after the Radiance was killed but before this story begins, because a lot happened in that time.

Ghost stretched as they woke up. They looked around and saw Hollow and Hornet still asleep, but the Pale King was awake and staring down at his three children, a fond expression on his face. Ghost jumped up on the bed, startling him, but the Pale King soon recovered and patted Ghost’s head affectionately. “Did you all spend the night in here?”

_ “Hollow wouldn’t leave,” _ Ghost explained.  _ “Blanket nest was comfy,” _ they added to explain their own and Hornet’s presence.

The Pale King winced as he pushed himself upright. “I didn’t realize I was as weak as I was,” he complained/apologized. “You were right,” he added, sounding a little frustrated. “If I had walked here, I would have collapsed halfway under the best of circumstances. That’s going to be a problem, considering I was hoping to see Root again today.”

Ghost gave him a look.  _ “Stag. Station.” _

This time, the Pale King just chuckled at the insistent suggestion. “Perhaps that would be for the best,” he agreed. “I’m still not strong enough that I can’t hide my power, and I think I could navigate the gardens well enough as long as I’m not too exhausted.”

Ghost mentally filed that away as what the rest of the day was probably going to entail.  _ “Want something to eat?” _ they asked, changing the subject. The king hadn’t actually eaten or drank anything since he woke from his dream. The Pale King seemed to realize that too and nodded. He moved to get up but Ghost made frantic stopping motions.

“What’s the matter?” the Pale King asked, looking confused.

_ “Gotta do something,” _ Ghost explained. They jumped up on the bed then onto the wall, which they hopped up to the ceiling. They launched off so they were just over the nest of pillows, but not near Hollow or Ghost. With a sense of twisted glee, they cast descending dark.

The reactions were priceless.

The Pale King, who had been watching them with confusion, jumped in alarm. Hollow and Hornet were flung into the air and came crashing back down on the nest, although some of the pillows that flew up landed on them. Hornet yelped when she was suddenly awoken and Hollow looked like if they ever spoke they would’ve done the same.

Hollow shoved aside a pillow that had landed on their head and shot off a flurry of upset and annoyed emotions at Ghost. Hornet just glared at them with murder in her eyes. “GHOST!”

_ “Morning.” _ Ghost had to dodge three pillows thrown at their head simultaneously, but didn’t quite avoid Hornet launching herself at them with silk spinning around her. Within seconds, Ghost was cocooned from the neck down in webbing.

Hornet glared down at them as she stood up. “Get out of that on your own.”

Hollow nodded approvingly, then suddenly remembered what happened yesterday. They looked up at their father, who was staring at the wriggling Ghost, and scooted over to be closer to the bed.  _ “Feeling good? Hungry? Need anything?” _

“Breakfast would be nice,” the Pale King admitted. “Ghost was suggesting we get some before they woke you up in a… rather dramatic fashion.”

_ “Too perfect an opportunity,” _ Ghost piped up distractedly as they tried to use their nail to cut their way out.

“I bet Herrah and my Root are having deja vu with you,” the Pale King muttered. All three froze and looked at each other. The Pale King frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“Let’s get breakfast started and have this discussion at the table,” Hornet deflected. She picked up the still webbed Ghost and slung them over her shoulder. Hollow moved to pick up their father, but hesitated.

_ “Want me to carry you?” _ Hollow asked.

“I’m fine, but thank you.” The Pale King patted Hollow on the head and gingerly stood up. Hollow still hovered around him as they all walked down to the dining room table. Hollow pulled out a chair for the king when they got there before heading off to the pantry to scrounge up something to eat.

Hornet dropped Ghost in their usual seat before taking her own and putting her elbows on the table as she cupped her face with her hands. “Father, are you at all aware of what has happened since you’ve been gone?”

The Pale King nodded. “Parts of it. I saw some of Ghost’s memories during the Infection, so I understand the main… bullet points, if you will.”

“So none of the finer details, then,” Hornet summarized. Hollow returned, bringing out breakfast on a tray and passed her a glass of juice and some pickled vengefly eggs. They continued serving up breakfast as she started to explain. “Stepmother rooted herself a long time ago in her gardens. She decided to grow there while the Infection raged and diminish her power to hide.”

The Pale King nodded as Hollow gave him a double helping of eggs. “That I know about. We discussed our plans before I… did what I did.”

All three turned to stare at him. “She knew you were alive this whole time?” Hornet demanded.

“No, because  _ I  _ didn’t know if I’d live through it. Using all of your power plus some in the way I did is usually fatal, after all,” the Pale King admitted. He fell silent for a few seconds. “I was almost certain I wouldn’t survive, actually, and I didn’t hide that from her.”

Hornet nodded, accepting the explanation. “Very well. Anyway, after the Radiance was killed and the Infection vanished, she agreed to uproot herself so she can move around freely again. Of course, that takes a while for her, especially given how vast her root system has grown, but she started a while ago and should be able to walk around again in a few days, maybe a week at most.”

“After all the time she spent growing, I wouldn’t be surprised if her roots spread across the entire kingdom,” the Pale King muttered fondly.

“Right, well, she’s been doing fine, but she hasn’t been able to spend time with us except when we go to visit. As for Mother…” Hornet looked down. “She hasn’t woken up. None of the dreamers have.”

The Pale King started. “But the seals—”

“Are broken on the Temple of the Black Egg, but not on the dreamers. Their dream seals are still active, and we don’t know how to break them without killing the dreamers.”

“That shouldn’t have happened,” the Pale King muttered, more to himself than anyone else. “Then again, I never tested the possibility that the seals on the temple would collapse in the way that they must have… I’m not even sure where to put that on the to-do list, there’s just so much that needs to be done…”

_ “Get better first,” _ Hollow insisted.  _ “Don’t get hurt again.” _

That snapped the Pale King out of his reverie. “Don’t worry, I won’t leave you again, Hollow.” Hollow blinked in surprise and confusion at their name. The Pale King took a few seconds to pick up on it and explain. “Ghost mentioned you had a name now. I assume you picked it after you got out of your bindings.”

_ “Used it before sometimes, in my own head,” _ Hollow confessed.  _ “Tried not to, tried to be empty. Wanted to save kingdom.” _

The Pale King stared at the floor, looking ashamed. “I know. You shouldn’t have had to bear the burden you did, though.” Just then, Ghost cut through their bindings and rolled off the chair onto the floor before climbing back up.

Hornet coughed. “In any case, that’s our current situation. You should rest up for at least a few more days before we take any steps forward. This is not debatable,” she added as she saw the Pale King about to speak. Hollow and Ghost nodded in agreement, finalizing the matter.

The Pale King sighed. “Very well, but I would like to see Root again today.”

“I suppose we could do that,” Hornet acquiesced. “It might be a good idea to stay with her until you recover. There may not be many prying eyes in Dirtmouth, but there are enough.”

_ “Zote,” _ Ghost and Hollow said in unison as the prime example.

“Who?” the Pale King asked.

“You… you really don’t want to know.” Hornet put her hand to her temple and shook her head. “Just finish your breakfast, then we’ll head out.”

They ate in relative silence for the rest of the meal. The Pale King was eating faster than the rest of them, but whether that was out of impatience to see his wife again or ravenous hunger after not eating for centuries was anyone’s guess. He did take another helping of eggs while waiting for the others to finish, though.

When they left, Hornet gave him a more proper cloak to hide himself under than Ghost’s makeshift blanket cape. Ghost glanced both ways before they rounded any corner while Hollow stayed protectively close to their father. When the station was in sight, they started nearly sprinting toward it, hoping to avoid interacting with anyone.

“Good morning!”

Hornet stiffened and Hollow lifted their cloak to attempt to shield their father from view. Ghost just waved at Elderbug. “Can’t talk, busy,” they signed across the way, making it exaggerated enough so he could tell what they were saying.

“Alright, take care down there.”

Ghost started to walk toward the station, then stopped and turned back around. “We’re going to visit Mother for a few days, so don’t worry if we don’t come back soon.”

“Ah, right, you’ve mentioned she lives down there. One of these days you’ll have to let me meet her.” Elderbug went back to tending to his little garden he had planted outside his house, white flowers budding in the planters. Ghost waved goodbye, then dashed into the station, the others running after them.

They didn’t need to call the stag this time, he was already standing there waiting, and inclined his head toward them as they approached. “Good morning, where to?”

“Queen’s Gardens,” Hornet replied, leaping up into the front seat. The Old Stag waited for them all to board before running off down the tunnels. The Pale King was still on edge during the ride, but seemed better with it than he was yesterday. The Old Stage eventually skidded to a halt at the station. The air was thick with the fresh scent of plant life. Ghost always loved it here, and it was even better since the traitor mantises stopped trying to kill them. There weren’t many left in the gardens, most had either repented and returned to the Mantis Tribe or been hunted down by the Mantis Lords, but the ones that were kept their distance.

They left the station and stopped at the edge of the platform. All of them stared at the thorns and swinging platforms and Ghost slowly realized maybe it wasn’t going to be so easy to get the Pale King to the White Lady. They themself had difficulty getting there without faceplanting into a twisting mass of thorns and brambles.

The Pale King pulled down the hood of his cloak and stared up at the expanse above them. He unfastened the cloak and folded it up before slipping it in a pocket in his robes. He stretched his arms, bringing the upper pair over his head and the lower pair out parallel to his body. He arched his back and three pairs of transparent wings flared out. Ghost stared in shock, but Hollow and Hornet didn’t seem phased.

The Pale King noticed their BSOD expression and grinned, almost teasingly. “You didn’t know I had wings, did you?” Ghost shook their head. They paused for a moment, then spread their own wings. The Pale King’s expression mirrored their own seconds before. “Touche, little one.” He stretched his wings, then flapped upward and hovered in the air above a mass of thorns. “Are you coming?”

Ghost felt a little twinge of jealousy as the Pale King traversed the maze of thorns much easier than they could. Hornet found it a breeze as well, but they always knew their sister was way more aerobatic than them. Hollow had some issues as well due to their size, but they were also tall enough that some parts became much easier so it evened out.

Hollow squeezed through the path toward where Ghost fought the Traitor Lord, Hornet and the Pale King ahead of them waiting on solid ground and Ghost following behind. They stood on the lower platform and reached up for the one right above it just as the one they were standing on gave way. They started to pull themself up when the platform, either overloaded by their weight or with hinges loosened by an oily substance dripping from some of the plants above, swung down.

Hollow lost their grip from the sudden motion and dropped down. Ghost dashed to help. As they did so, they saw their father’s eyes widen and without a second’s hesitation swooped down and grabbed Hollow’s hand. Hornet’s silk attached itself to their chest a moment later and pulled them up. The Pale King grabbed Ghost mid-jump despite protests from the Lord of Shades and flew up with them.

He set them down as Hollow removed the webbing from themself then immediately rushed over to check on his eldest. “Are you alright? Did you get scratched?”

Hollow tilted their head.  _ “No. Perfectly fine.” _

The Pale King sighed in what sounded like relief. “That’s good.” He glared down at the platforms. “There used to be a control system so you could control when those things were up or down. We either need to repair that or just replace all the platforms.”

“That feels like it’s very far down on the list of priorities at the moment,” Hornet commented. The Pale King just groaned.

“I suppose it is, unfortunately.” He cast another death glare at the platform that made Hollow fall before moving on. He stopped as he saw the body of the Traitor Lord. The fallen mantis lord hadn’t died when Ghost struck him down, and Ghost couldn’t finish the job with the mantis incapacitated on the floor. After the infection faded, he still lived, although perhaps not in a state he would’ve wanted to live in.

An unfortunate aftereffect of some Infection victims was the toll it took on the mind. Some snapped right back to normal, as if they were only waking up, some remembered everything under its control, some lost memories of their pasts, and some became vacant shells, like the Traitor Lord. The only actions he took were to eat plants or prey that wandered within reach of his broken body and drink water that dripped from above. There was no response to anything else. He was too large and heavy to carry out of his resting spot, and on his better days he would swipe at anyone who touched him, either thinking they were food or a part of his mind that still remembered who he was trying to fight back against an attacker. Ghost usually came by with a dish of water and some food when they visited their mother, but due to obvious reasons it had completely skipped their mind this time.

The Pale King stared at him for a few seconds and the Traitor Lord stared back with empty, vacant eyes. “Infection?” the Pale King finally asked. Ghost nodded. The Pale King knelt down next to the broken lord and shook his head. “Taiga, you were a fool to think the Infection would give you anything but what it has reduced you to. I thought you insane when you gave in to it, but… I understand now.”

Ghost, Hornet, and Hollow all had identical expressions of bewilderment on their faces. The Pale King only now appeared to realize he had said all of that out loud and stood up hastily. “Let us be off.” He turned on his heel and continued onward, leaving his children to run after him. On the way, Ghost had a private conversation with Hollow and Hornet.

_ “This normal?” _

_ “No.” _

“He is acting strangely,” Hornet signed. Despite having the ability to communicate telepathically like the other two, lack of practice made her prefer sign language in situations like this.

Hollow rubbed their shoulder.  _ “Wasn’t so worried about me in the past. Only when really hurt. Furious when Lord Taiga willingly infected.” _

Hornet frowned and asked, “Was there anything in how you found him that could explain this?”

Ghost shrugged.  _ “Maybe. Explain what happened later, but… not sure if it was enough.” _ Maybe reliving his memories over and over again made him think about things differently, probably did, actually, but Ghost had a sneaking suspicion there was more to it than that, that they were missing something.


	5. Chapter 5

The Pale King paused at the grave for Dryya. “She was a good knight, one of the best,” he said at last.

“She will be missed,” Hornet agreed.

“Have any of the Great Knights survived?” he asked.

“As far as I know, only Ogrim has,” Hornet replied.

He hummed. “Well, that’s some comfort. He’ll be a good teacher for the next generation of Great Knights, when we find candidates,” the Pale King mused. His gaze turned toward the entrance to the White Lady’s house.

He took a few steps forward and placed a hand on the doorway to brace himself. His body shook a little and he hung his head down. Everything about his body language screamed he was exhausted. He had seemed fine seconds ago, but his determination to see his wife again probably gave him the strength to keep going. Now that he was here, the strain and fatigue was getting to him.

Hollow caught him before he dropped to the ground. The Pale King brought up one hand to rub his eyes as if trying to keep himself awake even as his breathing grew labored. “I’m alright. I just need to lie down for awhile, after I see my Root again,” he added, trying to stand up again but Hollow shook their head and picked him up.

_ “Rest. Hold on, carry you down,” _ Hollow ordered.

“I’ll be alright,” the Pale King assured them, but Hollow still refused to put him down.

“Just let them help you,” Hornet insisted. “You’re wasting time arguing about it.” She entered the house and leapt down the vertical hallway leading to the queen. Hollow quickly followed, the Pale King not protesting anymore. Ghost jumped after them and ran ahead with Hornet.

The White Lady sat in her usual place. Her branches were smaller than when Ghost last saw her, a sign she was almost ready to move around again, and she had long ago forsaken her bonds binding her in place, not that the dress she had underneath all the bonds looked to be a very different material, though. She glanced over in surprise as Ghost excitedly ran up to her. Since she started to uproot herself, her senses had begun to slowly return. Apparently since she didn’t need them so much when she was rooted in the ground, feeling and sensing everything her roots did, her senses naturally faded away in order to give herself more focus. Her sight was still a bit blurry, but her sense of taste had returned in full about a week ago.

She reached down and patted Ghost on the head while smiling at Hornet. She probably would’ve embraced her stepdaughter as well if she wasn’t out of reach. “I didn’t expect you back so soon. It’ll still be several days before I can move again, you know.”

_ “I know, not that. Excited. Good thing. Really happy. Make you happy. Did something impossible again. Happens a lot, apparently.” _

She tilted her head to the side as she patted them on the head again. “What is is it? Please do not tell me you flooded something with void in the process, again.”

_ “Those were accidents,” _ Ghost pouted.  _ “No. No void. Just dreams. Waking up from dreams. Come see!” _

Just then, Hollow entered the room, having hung back while Ghost talked to her. She looked up, affection in her eyes as she started to greet her eldest, then she saw the Pale King. The White Lady froze, her hand stopped patting Ghost’s head, and she remained silent for several seconds before finding her voice again. “My Wyrm?” she whispered.

The Pale King had been staring at her even before she noticed him. He didn’t say anything, just nodded and reached out a claw for her. Hollow stepped forward and took a few strides toward their mother, offering up the Pale King in their arm. As soon as they were within reach, the White Lady grabbed the Pale King and pulled him into a tight hug, one which he readily returned, clinging onto her desperately. Both were holding on like they didn’t believe the other was really there and needed constant reassurance that they were.

The White Lady bent down to touch her forehead with his and caressed the back of his head with her hand. He wrapped his tail around her legs and leaned into her embrace. “I didn’t think you survived…”

“Just barely, I wasn’t able to return in the state I was in until Ghost dragged me out of there. I’ll go into more detail later,” the Pale King muttered, resting his head against hers.

“You feel so weak, how long has it been since you awoke?” the White Lady asked, concern in her voice.

“A day. I would’ve come to you sooner but I passed out from exhaustion soon after seeing our children again,” the Pale King explained.

“I’m more worried about you coming all the way out here when you clearly haven’t regained your strength,” the White Lady fretted. “After what you did, I’m shocked you’re even able to move.”

“We only agreed to take him here so soon because we thought it was a better place for him to recover than in Dirtmouth,” Hornet interjected.

“That and there would have been a ninety percent chance he’d come on his own,” the White Lady added, sighing affectionately. He gave her a look which soon turned into one sheepish affection at her knowing gaze. She nuzzled him and drew him in closer. “Rest as long as you need, my love. I’m not going anywhere, even if I could walk.”

“I’m sorry I left you alone,” he said suddenly. She fell silent. “I shouldn’t have gone away. I should’ve stayed, at least a little longer.”

“We never had the luxury of time to process, my Wyrm. You bought more time, enough time to save our kingdom, and fate let you live. That is enough, let bygones be bygones.”

“I love you,” the Pale King murmured, adjusting his position so he was more comfortable.

“I as well,” she whispered as he rested his head against her chest. The Pale King’s breathing grew softer and slower as he lost consciousness in her arms. She smiled down at him, then looked back at her children. “There are no words for how thankful I am.”

Ghost shrugged bashfully.  _ “Went there to bring body back for funeral. Didn’t know he was alive.” _ Their mother just patted their head then moved her hand down to cup their face.

“Nevertheless.” She smiled at them fondly, then looked back down at her husband. She lifted his sleeping form up to press her forehead against his again. “Oh, my love, I truly thought I would never see you again. I thought the Infection had taken you as well. I am glad hope was right, in this case. Now, we can have our life back. We can have our children, we can have our family. We can have the life we wanted.”

“Mother is still asleep,” Hornet pointed out, a touch of heat in her voice.

The White Lady snapped out of her loving daydreams and turned to face her. “Of course, I am sorry, Hornet. I got ahead of myself. I don’t mean to say there isn’t still much to do, but to me, the future feels brighter than it was. And with your father back, there is a greater chance we can wake Herrah again.” Hornet nodded and seemed to accept this answer.

The rest of the day was spent catching up, moving into their usual rooms in the White Lady’s house, and keeping Hollow from worrying over their father too much. The Pale King hadn’t woken up by the time they went to sleep, and he looked relaxed enough in his wife’s arms that they thought it wasn’t a good idea to move him to a bed. Besides, the White Lady was more than happy to keep him there with her. He only woke up halfway through breakfast the next morning, blinking sleepily awake. “How long was I…?”

“Good morning, my Wyrm,” the White Lady replied.

He rubbed his eyes and sat up. “You could’ve woken me up when I fell asleep.”

“You needed your rest, and you still need to take it easy. From what I gather, you’ve been not doing that the past two days,” she reprimanded lightly.

“I still wish we could’ve had more time to reconnect,” he muttered, sounding a little embarrassed about falling asleep again.

“Oh, my Wyrm, we have all the time in the world.” She picked up a plate she had made earlier for him and offered it to him. “For now, though, have something to eat.”

Hornet stood up and grabbed Hollow and Ghost by the backs of their cloaks. “We will have the rest of our breakfast outside. It’ll be a nice picnic, and you two can have some time alone to catch up.” Ghost had just enough time to grab their food before she started dragging them away. Hollow struggled a little, but she gave them a look and they came along.

The gardens were always a nice place to relax. They had actually planned to eat outside more often once their mother had uprooted herself. They didn’t know if it would be as often as they thought now, though, what with the White Palace coming back. That would probably end up being their usual home, now.

Hornet’s thoughts seemed to mirror Ghost’s. “So, I suppose we’ll have some adjusting to do.”

_ “Is the White Palace nice?” _ Ghost asked.

_ “Very nice. A couple training rooms, a library, many gardens, large dining hall, balconies, ballroom, kitchens, nice bedrooms…” _ At some point, Hollow’s explanation turned into reminiscence and their thoughts eventually muddled out into something unintelligible.

“You’ll like it there, although I don’t doubt you’ll miss our neighbors in Dirtmouth, but that’s not what I’m most worried about.” Hornet took a bite of meat and chewed slowly as she thought. “We will no longer have the luxury of anonymity after our father retakes his throne. We may be able to hold onto lingering threads, for a while, but eventually our relationship to him, and our status, will get out.”

Ghost and Hollow looked at each other. That had not occurred to them, and from their sibling’s expression, it had not crossed Hollow’s mind either. Ghost had very rarely had to deal with bugs thinking they were special or to be revered. Bretta had a short stint of it, but that turned into revulsion after Zote came around. Godseeker was the exact opposite after they ascended. And she was a bit… fanatical. Hornet once tied her up and dropped her into Deepnest when Ghost got overly upset from one of her attempts at worship. She backed off a bit after that. Everyone else treated them fairly normally. They weren’t necessarily nice to them— _ Millibelle _ —but it wasn’t “special” treatment, so to speak. Hollow probably had to deal with it for their entire childhood, but it would be different this time. They weren’t the empty vessel, they were the king’s child. Ghost supposed prince would be the title, as male-associated titles were often used as gender-neutral in Hallownest, something picked up from the Mantis Tribe when they were assimilated into Hallownest. Not to mention Hollow rather liked being treated normally, so this would be an unwelcome shift.

But then again, there were definitely some of their friends who wouldn’t care, either because they already knew about their past and family or because they just… wouldn’t care. Quirrel, Sly, Ogrim, and probably most of the Grimm Troupe knew while Nailsmith, Cornifer, and the Old Stag probably wouldn’t care. The Nailmasters either already figured it out or wouldn’t care once they did, so they were also good. Ghost couldn’t say for the rest of them.

They relayed their thoughts to their siblings, who both nodded in agreement.  _ “Might not be so bad,” _ Hollow acknowledged.  _ “Bets whether Zote cares?” _

_ “Too full of himself. Won’t even acknowledge it,” _ Ghost replied.

“This might be big enough it gets in his head,” Hornet retorted. “He’ll probably avoid and stop talking to us.”

_ “Fifty geo?” _ Ghost suggested.

“Deal. Hollow? Want in on this?” asked Hornet.

Their eldest sibling thought for a bit.  _ “Act like he doesn’t care, frantically tries to make himself better and put us down in order to make himself seem better while also trying not to commit treason in the process.” _

“Alright, bets are set, no take-backs,” Hornet decreed, fighting a smile. She soon turned serious again. “Onto another matter, should we try to actively hide our status after the throne is retaken, get ahead of it and tell everyone we know, or do nothing and admit it only if it comes up?”

_ “Maybe tell them?” _ Hollow suggested.  _ “Good to hear from us. Honest, deserve to know.” _

Ghost shook their head.  _ “Last option. If someone wants to know, tell them. Announcing it brings too much attention, makes it seem really important. Like they  _ **_should_ ** _ act differently.” _

“I suppose I’ll be the tie-breaker then,” Hornet sighed. “Hollow, I’m sorry, but I agree with Ghost. Not so much for their reasoning, I doubt it will matter either way, but because this way we get more time, and there is a chance some people will not find out for a long time. It’s deceptive, yes, but people don’t always need to know everything.”

Hollow still looked troubled, but nodded acceptingly. They laid back in the grass and stared up at the plants above.  _ “Mother’s happy Father’s back.” _

Ghost frowned.  _ “Should we tell her?” _

_ “Tell her what?” _

Ghost shuffled in place.  _ “Father acting odd.” _

Hornet hummed as she thought. “I think we should, just so she can keep an eye out. Or perhaps as she knows him better she could explain some of it. He did have, and probably still does have, a tendency to put up fronts. His use of plural first-person pronouns around his subjects, for example. His kingly persona is very different from his private one. In the past, he’d only loosen up around those he trusted when in king-mode. I remember Mother used to take pleasure in trying to make him slip-up in front of people.” She shook her head, as if trying to rid herself of the reminiscent memories. “In any case, she knows him best and if something’s wrong, she’ll figure out what it is faster than we will.”

Ghost glanced at the entrance to the house, then stood up.  _ “Going to check on them. Ask her if I’m able.” _

Hollow looked worried.  _ “Trying to catch up, maybe don’t.” _

_ “Been a while, probably fine, leave if they want me to,” _ Ghost reasoned. They dashed off and jumped down into the main part of the house. They started walking toward where their mother and the Pale King were, but heard voices. They slowed their approach so as to move more quietly and eavesdrop better.

“—Ghost will be fine for a while longer.”

“I just think they should’ve had this talk a long time ago.”

“Possibly, but they’re certainly not in any danger waiting a while longer, and I highly doubt anyone else is either.”

“I saw what they did to the Radiance. Granted, it was entirely justified, but that is still not something I want to risk.”

Ghost poked their head around the corner. The Pale King sat beside the White Lady on a root she had apparently grown out of the ground just for him. The White Lady saw the small Lord of Shades first, and turned her gaze past the Pale King to stare at them. The Pale King followed her gaze to look at his youngest, staring at the two of them with a curious look in their eyes.

He reached out his hand and gestured to a space in front of him. “Ghost, come here.”

Ghost stared for a few more seconds, then slowly walked toward the indicated space, unsure of what would happen next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about making this a cliffhanger but the next scene's going to be fairly long and this chapter's already a little longer than I usually like to make them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of exposition and world-building in this chapter, just a head's up, but there are some pretty important plot details in this one too.

The White Lady picked Ghost up and set them on her lap. They looked up at her. _“Why were you talking about me?”_ They focused on the question so there would be no mistake in their meaning.

“It wasn’t all we talked about, the topic just happened to come up shortly before you arrived,” their mother commented fondly. “And I suppose your father would argue it was a good thing you came in when you did. There’s something we need to talk to you about.” She sighed. “I wanted to wait until I was uprooted and we were able to spend a bit more time together, but with your father here to help, I suppose there really isn’t any reason to put it off any longer.”

Ghost tilted their head to the side and the White Lady gestured at the Pale King, who sighed and began. “It’s about your status as a higher being. What do you know about what that means?”

Ghost thought for a second before replying. _“Really powerful being?”_

The Pale King winced. “Well, you’re not wrong, but that’s a _massive_ oversimplification.” He took a moment to think about his next words. “Power is only one requirement, a very important one, but still not everything. Affinity is the other one.”

_“Affinity?”_

“It’s basically some attribute to align yourself with. It doesn’t mean it has to be your whole personality, or affect your personality at all, you just have to have a connection with it at the time you ascend. For example, my Root’s affinities are fertility and nature. Mine would be knowledge. I don’t know if you know about Unn, but hers is nature to a larger extent than Root’s is. The Radiance was obviously dreams, Abyss Creature’s is healing, and yours is void,” the Pale King explained. “How someone ascends is different for every person, but ascension itself is pretty dramatic.”

He tilted his head and tapped the side of his head as he thought. “Power is… how to explain this… do you know what a chemical buffer is?” Ghost shook their head. “It’s something that can resist a change in acidity or basicity. Anything added to it is neutralized, up to a certain point. Once you go beyond that amount, there’s a jump, so to speak, and the acidity or basicity changes drastically. What happens during ascension is kind of like going over the buffer’s capacity. Your power can and often does increase exponentially and is taken over by your affinity. That doesn’t mean you automatically know how to use it, and in fact, a lot of higher beings never learn how to use every aspect of their power. This can and often does mean a lot of ‘lower’ beings appear and functionally are stronger than some higher beings.”

The White Lady picked up where he left off. “Of course, that’s not everything. Higher beings are like our own species, in addition to the one we were born with. Our affinities and power are only some of the traits of our kind, there are also instincts that come along with it, which is what your father was worried about.”

Ghost looked back over at the Pale King, who sighed. “Most of us have to figure this out on our own, but given how much power you have and that you’re in a unique position where you do have other higher beings to explain this to you, it’s for the best if you know what you’re dealing with ahead of time instead of figuring it out in the moment.” He crossed his arms and sighed. “There’s one instinct in particular I’m very worried about.”

“I don’t think it’s a big deal for you right now, but it’s something to be aware of,” the White Lady interjected.

“I don’t understand her reasoning, since I think you’ve already experienced it in a massive way, but maybe I’m missing something,” the Pale King added. He continued, “Higher beings are, by default, insanely territorial. We obviously can learn to get along with others of our kind and the instinct goes away once a certain level of familiarity and goodwill is reached, but until then you’ll be fighting it off whenever you deal with another higher being.

“From what I saw of your memories, you’ve already experienced it with the Radiance. You were more brutal than I believe you would’ve been otherwise. I don’t doubt that you would’ve killed her no matter what, but given how you killed other enemies and how you fought her before your ascension…” He let the thought hang so Ghost could take in what he was saying.

As much as Ghost wanted to deny it, that explanation filled in a lot of gaps. They brushed it off as a power high, but there was something else in there. They had wanted to make her suffer, they wanted her to hurt for how she hurt so many bugs they cared about. They had gone into the fight just knowing they had to defeat her and kill her so the Infection would end, but once they ascended, there was an uncontrollable anger at how she had hurt people who were _theirs_ , and how _dare_ she cause them harm? It had scared them so much after they calmed down, but they rationalized it as just snapping after so long of being calm, and after seeing all the devastation she had wrought.

The Pale King kept talking. “If you let yourself slip, things could, and often do, get violent. Given how much more powerful you are than the average higher being, you could end up killing a lot of higher beings on instinct if you’re not aware that’s a thing. Not to mention more higher beings live in Hallownest than anywhere else I’ve seen, and that battles between two tend to be very destructive. Right now, I’m a little worried about the Abyss Creature since you two have overlapping physical territory. They’re very passive, which works in their favor, but something could still happen.”

 _“But… I like Abyss Creature. Make lifeblood. Lifeblood good, really like lifeblood. Plus nice company. We’re buddies,”_ Ghost replied, tilting their head to one side.

The Pale King sighed in relief. “Well, that’s good, at least, but what about Unn? You don’t have overlapping territory, but—”

_“Gave me charm. Fun charm, too. Also, Greenpath pretty, with soft ground. Like to hang out there. Not very close, but not threatened.”_

The Pale King looked genuinely surprised and looked at his wife, who laughed. “I told you, being territorial is not an imminent concern with Ghost.”

“So that’s why you weren’t worried,” the Pale King muttered.

“They’re less the whole reason and more like exhibits A and B,” the White Lady replied. “Would you like to see exhibit C?” The Pale King gave her an odd look and slowly nodded. She turned to Ghost and beamed. “Don’t you have a friend you’d like your father to meet?”

Ghost stared blankly at her for a few seconds, before realizing what she was talking about. They brightened up and pulled out the Grimmchild charm, then sat down on one of the White Lady’s branches to pin it to their cloak. A few seconds later, Grimmchild appeared in the room with a flash of crimson light.

The Pale King instantly jumped back, falling off the root and onto the floor in the process. Grimmchild stopped flying and dropped down a short way before recovering and flying back up to their usual height. He twisted around and stared at Ghost with an incredulous expression on his face, red eyes wide. A few seconds later, the Pale King climbed back onto the root, his wings flared out behind him like he was trying to make himself seem bigger than the was. The White Lady leaned over and nuzzled his head. “Calm yourself, my love. We don’t want to spark a fight.”

“What the _hell_ is he doing here?” the Pale King demanded, glaring at the Grimmchild.

Ghost grabbed the Grimmchild out of the air and pulled him against their chest protectively. _“Friend. Very close friend. Be nice.”_

The Pale King put his hand between his eyes as if trying to quell a headache. “Let me get this straight, you befriended every higher being you could before you ascended?!”

 _“I mean, wasn’t intentional,”_ Ghost muttered. _“Made a lot of friends. Not only higher beings.”_

“And were you his summoner?” the Pale King asked, pointing at the Grimmchild, who nyah-ed at him while struggling out of Ghost’s arms.

_“Playing around with the dream nail. Stabbed a corpse, lit a bonfire, accidentally called them here. Grimm was nice, I wanted to train, it was fun.”_

“We need to have a serious talk about you stabbing corpses,” the Pale King tensely deadpanned. He bristled, then forced himself to calm down. “If you’re interested, this is what I meant when I said ‘territorial instincts.’ Even if I’m not actively wanting to kill him, it’s insanely uncomfortable having him around.”

“It’s the same reason I was rather curt about him during our first few meetings, we’re pretty much hardwired to dislike each other, and it takes time to change that,” the White Lady explained. “I can’t say I’m as fond of him as you are, but I no longer have any problems tolerating the nightmare creature’s presence.” Grimmchild made a noise of distaste, as if objecting to being called just a “nightmare creature.”

The Pale King narrowed his eyes at the Grimmchild. “Keep your territory to the Nightmare Realm and I won’t try and stab you.”

Grimmchild nodded, as if accepting his terms, but gave him a look while doing so, as if to say, “Why would I want to be in charge of your stupid kingdom?”

Ghost looked between the two of them, then hesitantly asked, _“Isn’t the Nightmare’s Heart the higher being?”_

“Yes?” The Pale King looked at them strangely. Funnily enough, the Grimmchild was giving them the same look.

 _“Why are you territorial with Grimmchild then?”_ Ghost asked.

All three of them stared at them. No one spoke for several seconds, until all at once, something appeared to dawn on them. The Pale King turned to glare at the Grimmchild. “You didn’t _tell_ them?!”

The Grimmchild gave a little shrug and Ghost knew him well enough to know what it meant: “I forgot?”

“Would you care to explain it now?” the Pale King demanded.

Grimmchild gave him a look and Ghost piped up, _“They can’t talk.”_

“You can’t talk yet?” The Pale King demanded. Grimmchild shrugged. Ghost looked between the two in confusion. The Pale King groaned loudly. “So I have to explain _your_ stupid ritual?”

Ghost cocked their head to one side and stared at the flying nightmare. Grimmchild just flew over and wrapped himself around Ghost’s neck like a scarf. He butted his head against theirs, as a kind of apology, then looked expectantly at the Pale King, who sighed again.

“Alright, I guess I have to do this,” the Pale King muttered. “Consider this my first step toward tolerating this winged menace. The Nightmare’s Heart is an… unusual higher being. I don’t actually know how he came about, but it doesn’t matter. As you might have noticed, he’s just a heart. He can beat, he can exert his magic and influence in nightmares and the Nightmare Realm, and that’s about it. He can’t move, he can’t go into the physical world. His only senses are touch and sight. And he _hates_ it, or rather, hated it.

“The Moth Tribe had a tradition for their stillborns, for the eggs that would never hatch, where they would send them as a sort of sacrifice or tribute into the Dream Realm. One day, one of them went to the Nightmare Realm instead, right by the Nightmare’s Heart. The Nightmare’s Heart decided to try and put their own consciousness into the embryo, like a meat puppet—”

Grimmchild fired a warning shot at the Pale King, who just gave him a death glare. “Am I wrong? Now let me finish. He projected his consciousness into the embryo, and it lived, then hatched. At least, its body did, it didn’t have any spirit, will, or consciousness of its own, and without the Nightmare’s Heart possessing it, the body would immediately die again. The Nightmare’s Heart could move, feel, smell, hear, see, eat, sleep, experience all that the rest of us take for granted.”

Ghost’s eyes widened and they looked down at Grimmchild, who nodded, confirming what the Pale King was saying. The Pale King continued, “The creature that came out, however, wasn’t an ordinary moth. It had been twisted by his power, so it would be a more suitable avatar. It didn’t quite look like the form he’s taken now, but it would get there in a few generations. Since, unlike him, the bodies were mortal. They’d live for a long time, yes, but not forever and the strain of channeling the Nightmare’s Heart sped up that process by burning them up from inside. He used his avatars to make more eggs, all stillborn, in order to keep up a steady supply. They stay preserved until he needs a new body, then he’ll keep his main consciousness in his old body and put just enough into the new one to give it life, but it’s not enough that they’re really sentient. At some point, he came up with the idea to make someone else train and care for the child, in order for him to learn new skills and ways to do things and whatnot. I’m not sure how that turned into the ritual, I’m assuming it has to do with his love for theatrics.” The Pale King looked at Ghost. “Any questions?”

_“So… Grimm and Grimmchild now are the same person?”_

“Always were, so yes. He just has the Nightmare’s Heart’s full consciousness now. You didn’t notice how after the ritual completed his eyes became red?” the Pale King asked.

_“Didn’t think about it, really. Why can’t he talk?”_

“The body is still that of a hatchling, even if his mind isn’t. He can’t form the words yet, but give it time.” The Pale King didn’t look like he would be happy when that day came.

_“Why is he called Grimmchild, or Grimm?”_

The Pale King sighed. “Higher beings have names as well as titles, but we’re usually known by our titles. I’m sure you’ve run into this, Lord of Shades. Grimm’s just his name and like you, he likes to use it more than his title.”

Grimmchild, or Grimm as Ghost supposed they should call him, butted his head against theirs again and let out an apologetic mewl. Ghost stared at them for a second, then shrugged and patted their head. _“Okay. Explains some things. Still best buddies.”_ Grimm let out a happier mewl and flew in a circle around their head.

Something suddenly occurred to Ghost. _“Supposed to be territorial, right? What about you?”_

“If you haven’t noticed, I am currently fighting back that instinct,” the Pale King muttered.

 _“No. Not territorial around you, and I’m not too close with you. Known you for two days,”_ Ghost explained.

They instantly regretted the question. The Pale King looked like he had just been slapped. He recovered after a few seconds then looked away. “Right, well, that might be wyrm instincts. We’re territorial creatures too, but that doesn’t extend to our parents or children, so you might’ve inherited that.”

 _“Sorry,”_ Ghost apologized.

He shook his head. “It’s true, we… haven’t had much time together. I should’ve checked the abyss better… I could’ve had so much more time…”

 _“Still have a lot of time. Future,”_ Ghost reminded, trying to cheer him up, but he just shook his head.

“That’s not entirely—” He broke off with a sigh and forced a smile. “Yes, I suppose we do, and I will treasure every second of it.” He slid over to Ghost’s root and patted their head. Ghost noticed his movements were stiffer than usual and saw him glaring at Grimm, who was still around Ghost’s neck. They reached up with both hands when his hand was raised, grabbed it, then pulled it back down on their head, all the while using puppy eyes. Worked like a charm. The Pale King instantly relaxed and turned his attention entirely to his child.

Out of the corner of their eye, Ghost saw their mother smile and give them a proud, knowing look. They suddenly remembered why they had come in here in the first place and looked up at the Pale King. _“Wanted to ask Mother something. Privately.”_

He looked surprised, but nodded. “I was wondering why you came in when you did. Very well, I need to prepare our room, anyway. I know my Root will not be using it for another few days, but it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.”

 _“Take Grimm with you?”_ Ghost asked, grabbing the nightmare and lifting him up under the wings.

The Pale King initially recoiled, but let out a long-suffering sigh. “So long as he doesn’t set anything on fire and behaves himself, I will allow it.” He dropped to the floor and inclined his head. “Come along.”

The White Lady watched them leave with a wistful expression on her face. “Despite some of his reputations and the reputation of his kind, he does care very deeply for his children. He wouldn’t allow the little nightmare within a wingspan of him if not for you,” she commented to Ghost as they walked out of earshot.

 _“Wondering about that,”_ Ghost explained. They tried to focus in order to ensure there wouldn’t be a miscommunication. _“Have you noticed anything… odd about him?”_

“Odd? How so?” the White Lady asked, sounding surprised.

_“More… caring? Got really protective over Hollow on the way over. They almost fell on thorns, but they weren’t actually hurt. Still worried a lot over them. Ran into Traitor Lord, apparently his name’s Taiga? Didn’t know that. Sorry, off topic. He said something about understanding why he let himself get infected? Doesn’t make sense coming from him.”_

The White Lady lowered her gaze. “Oh.”

Ghost felt apprehension flood through them. They had never heard that tone from her before. Her voice was flat, quiet, with a heavy weight lingering in the background. _“Oh?”_

She glanced back up and patted Ghost’s head. “I know what’s going on, it’s nothing for you to worry about.” Her tone was back to normal now, but there was still that heavy weight.

_“What’s wrong?”_

She hesitated, then shook her head. “Ghost, I’m not going to say this isn’t something you and your siblings deserve to know, because it absolutely is. One day, in the future, will be a better time to tell you, but that day isn’t now.” She cupped their face with one hand. “All I can say is that there was a gap between when we found out Hollow wasn’t… well, hollow and when your father sacrificed himself, and there were some… things that happened during that time.”

_“What do you mean?”_

She thought for a while before responding. “We were both troubled after we sealed the Radiance away. Even if we believed our vessel was empty, it wasn’t that we didn’t have affection for them. Then after we discovered that Hollow wasn’t empty, and the Infection was leaking out, it was devastating. We were both hit hard and he started working tirelessly to find another solution, one that would take care of the Infection while also freeing our child. We were both emotionally fragile, and to be honest, it wouldn’t have taken much to send him over the edge. And what happened to finally do it was…” She shook her head. “It would have been earth-shattering even without everything else.”

The White Lady’s eyes glazed over. “It destroyed him. It destroyed me as well. However, I have had years and years to deal with my own feelings. He told me how he spent that same time, trapped in an endless loop of his own memories. I don’t think he was able to fully process it in that state, and I have no doubt it’s affecting his perceptions and behavior. Perhaps he’s come to terms with what happened, but I had a feeling before you said anything that a part of him was still stuck in that memory.”

 _“Can I help?”_ Ghost asked.

She smiled and pulled Ghost into a hug. “Not right now, my child. This isn’t something to force him into facing until he’s ready. You’ll know what to do when the time comes, because I’m sure he’ll need you and your siblings when that day arrives.”


	7. Chapter 7

Ghost shade-dashed away as their sister gave chase. The Pale King and White Lady were enjoying their lunch on the grass, watching the chaos that was their children playing tag. The White Lady had only uprooted herself this morning, so this was her first time outside in a while. Hollow stopped by to grab a slice of freshly cooked meat, since Hornet was very much not focusing on them at the moment.

The Pale King glanced up at them with a smile on his face. “Having fun?”

 _“Yes, lots. Also just watching’s hilarious,”_ Hollow replied, pointing at Ghost climbing up a wall to get away from Hornet.

“I noticed,” the Pale King agreed with a laugh. Hornet turned her head toward Hollow and her eyes narrowed. Hollow scarfed down the rest of their snack and bolted just as Hornet swung down after them, abandoning her pursuit of Ghost. The Pale King leaned to the side to avoid her as she flew overhead. The White Lady just laughed at the chaos and leaned down to nuzzle her husband’s head.

“We certainly have spirited children.”

“That we do,” he agreed. Apparently without realizing it, he began to hum a melody. It started with a low note, then alternated between low and high notes of different lengths, with parts of it shifting back and forth quickly. Eventually, it shifted from high to low to lower and repeated. The White Lady tensed up, then relaxed and touched his shoulder. He stopped humming as soon as he realized what he was doing. The White Lady nuzzled his head again and closed her eyes. “It is alright, my love.”

He stared without blinking as Hornet tagged Hollow, who immediately bolted after a Ghost who had gotten too close. “Do you know how much I could’ve prevented had I sacrificed myself sooner?” he asked. “Hollow would’ve gotten some relief from her sooner, and—” He broke off as he saw the White Lady shaking her head.

“You thought you could’ve found another way, you wanted to save everyone, not just buy time. It may have turned out to be the best option, but I doubt your foresight would’ve seen this timeline no matter how long you looked. It’s certainly not a probable one to have occurred.”

The Pale King watched Ghost use descending dark to avoid their sibling. “Sometimes I think life has given me more second chances than I deserve.”

“Don’t say that.”

The Pale King sighed and leaned his head against his wife. “...they look like they’re having fun. It’s nice to see they can still be carefree, after everything,” he commented, changing the subject.

“Hornet’s been struggling the most with the idea, she’s been self-reliant for a long time. Even now, she’s essentially the leader of her siblings, both Hollow and Ghost look to her for permission.” The White Lady lowered her voice as she spoke.

“Herrah would be— will be proud of her.” The Pale King corrected himself halfway through.

“Don’t overwork yourself trying to break the seals,” the White Lady warned. “You nearly killed yourself a couple times from stress and exhaustion trying to find a way to stop the Radiance.”

“I won’t, but it’s just…” He let out a noise of frustration. “Putting aside personal priorities, there’s far too much to do. Reestablishing authority and going through all the, ‘The king has returned, huzzah!’ miscellany is going to be the easy part. Getting everything working again is going to be insanely difficult, even more so when the Queen of Deepnest and both of my main researchers are out of commission. Royal researchers who, aside from being responsible for most of our kingdom’s scientific advancements, are also in charge of education and managing our bloody capital respectively.” He paused for a second. “On a different note, please, please tell me Soul Master is dead.”

“Ghost killed him,” the White Lady replied.

“Of course they did.” The Pale King shook his head. “Even if I’m beyond thrilled I won’t have to worry about that son of a dirtcarver, I worry about them sometimes.”

“I think the main issue is that they’ve had to simultaneously become too mature and not mature enough,” the White Lady commented. “Hollow is much the same way, but they’ve always been naturally calmer so it’s less noticeable.”

He winced. “...even if our children would have always had to fend against the Infection, Hollow shouldn’t have needed to hide themself.”

“They wanted to make you proud.”

“Then I never should’ve given them that idea. I should’ve said something, convinced them that they didn’t need to be empty,” the Pale King reasoned.

“We didn’t _know_ , your foresight never gave any indication, and we had no idea Hollow could act so well. Why would you have?” the White Lady asked. “To do so would have been to admit you didn’t want an empty child, something you would’ve never done back then.” She glanced over at him. “I don’t think it was something you could do if you were to continue your plan.”

Hollow tackled Ghost, then shot off again as their smaller sibling chased after them. The Pale King glanced down. “We always knew using void to increase the chances of one of our offspring surviving had risks of adverse side effects for the child. I thought we could make it into a win-win situation. We’d either get a child of our own, or we’d have a sacrifice to use to save our kingdom. And yet…” He shook his head. “I wonder if I miscalculated the risks. None of our void children were empty, but none of them can speak. We didn’t even know that was a possibility.”

“My Wyrm, in the time since our fall, I have learned the void is not something so easily understood, do not be hard on yourself,” the White Lady consoled. “The void itself does not understand their own power.” They sat in silence for a while, then she smiled mischievously. “Perhaps we will have to find an acting teacher or theater troupe for Hollow to participate in if they want to. They certainly have a great deal of skill for the art.”

The Pale King sighed. “It may unfortunately be a while before we can arrange that. There certainly aren’t going to be many troupes left in Hallownest—” Grimm appeared in front of him with a happy nyah, causing him to jump back while the White Lady tried to hide her laughter. “You both did that on purpose,” he accused.

“Grimm’s always been one for the dramatics, and I knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid taking that bait,” the White Lady explained while laughing. “In all seriousness, it might not be a bad idea, at least until we find another option. I’d rather not impose.” Grimm shook his head and make a friendly noise, as if trying to convey that it wouldn’t be a problem.

The Pale King narrowed his eyes at the flying nightmare. “Does your troupe even do plays?”

Grimm stopped and thought, then landed and lifted one wing, moving it in a tilting, side-to-side gesture as if trying to make a so-so gesture with a hand he did not currently possess. He seemed a little frustrated at his inability to elaborate on the situation, and unfortunately unlike the vessels, he couldn’t use telepathy or sign language due to, again, the lack of hands or opposable claws. Writing wasn’t an option either, as no one currently had the materials for him to do so and the ground was so lush with plant life no dirt could be reached to draw on.

The Pale King sighed again and put one hand on his forehead. “Alright, we’ll revisit the matter later.” He glanced back at his playing children, and smiled. Grimm took the opportunity to lean against his tail as he curled up to rest. The Pale King froze and glared down at the avatar of the Nightmare’s Heart. Grimm stared back, unflinching, although some hostility was still present in his eyes. The Pale King got a distinct impression he wasn’t happy with being in such close proximity either, which was odd considering he was the one who got so close in the first place. After a moment, Grimm inclined his head toward the shade-dashing Ghost, and laid his head back down, using his wings as pillows. The Pale King stared down at him, then took a deep breath and went back to the picnic.

* * *

“Are you sure—”

“I do not need the ‘don’t strain yourself’ lecture from the bug who wanted to walk from one end of Hallownest to the other mere moments after waking up from a centuries-long dream coma in order to avoid riding the stagway,” the White Lady retorted. For once, Ghost was glad the no-speaking thing applied to laughter as well, because otherwise they would be laughing very, very loudly. The Pale King just shot them a slightly frustrated glance before trying again.

“That still doesn’t mean after not walking for ages you should walk to the White Palace without taking a break! I am not a good role model to follow in this situation!”

“Yes, but I’ve given it a week to get my strength back. I am perfectly fine and if I feel myself growing weary, I will stop and rest for a spell before we continue.”

As much as Ghost would’ve wanted to, they couldn’t use the stag station. The White Lady was too large to be able to ride with the rest of them, and even alone it would not be a comfortable trip. The Pale King was another issue. His power and strength were still gradually returning, and while he wasn’t quite back to normal yet, he was certainly strong enough that other bugs would notice the second he got within a few paces of them. Apparently it was difficult to tune down his aura normally, and being weaker than usual made it even harder. So the stag station was out. The trams, however, were another story. The only downside there was that they would have to go through Deepnest, but it had become safer since the Infection vanished. Saf _er_ being the key word there, it was still death personified as a landscape.

 _“Hot spring. Up ahead,”_ Ghost piped up. _“Going ahead. Siblings pissed otherwise.”_

Hornet sighed. “They like to splash around when they first get it. As long as you don’t start a water fight, they’ll calm down after a few minutes.”

The Pale King made a disquieted humming noise. “Be careful, alright?”

 _“Know the way, like to be here. Not as scary,”_ Ghost replied before dashing off. It was funny how Deepnest’s hot spring was actually one of their favorite places, especially given how they had come across it by accidentally falling down a chasm from above. They were ready for the landing to hurt when they had landed, scared, in warm, soothing water. Finding Quirrel sitting there brightened their mood instantly. They had sat there for a long time, just relaxing and playing in the water, until they felt well enough to brave the horrors of Deepnest again.

They crystal-dashed into the hot spring without looking and plunged into the water with a massive splash of water. When they surfaced, they immediately started smacking their arms against the water and striking it with their nail.

“Small one, would you mind aiming your strikes in the other direction?”

Ghost froze at the voice and turned in its direction. Quirrel was still wiping water off himself from when Ghost had drenched him just moments before. _“What doing here? Why here? Thought you Archives?”_ Certainly not the most coherent thoughts they’d ever had, but they were far too taken aback to be eloquent.

“Ah, well, I needed some soil samples from Deepnest for research, and needed to take a breather. Is something the matter?” He had picked up on Ghost’s slight panic during their mental communication and was now on full alert.

_“Not exactly. Kind of. Complicated. Pale King’s alive, was travelling with family to White Palace, this was fastest route, didn’t expect to see anyone. Want to come along?”_

Quirrel’s eyes had widened during Ghost’s half-explanation, but he nodded. “You can fill me in on specifics later, I’ll just follow your lead on this, okay?”

 _“Thanks. Not bad dad, actually. Not bad bug. Might be able to wake dreamers up, eventually. Doesn’t know how right now,”_ Ghost replied.

“I… see. I’m glad about the first part, and the second gives some hope. I certainly haven’t gone anywhere with my attempts, but I should be able to share my notes with him, maybe he’ll see something useful in them that I don’t,” Quirrel mused.

Ghost heard footsteps behind them that quickly stopped and turned around to see the others standing stock still. They waved and gestured to Quirrel. _“Quirrel’s here! Explained things to him. Sort of. Not really.”_

Quirrel stood up only to bow again. His movements were quick, stiff, formal. “Your Majesties.”

The Pale King didn’t respond and was looking like he was having a minor panic attack, but quickly let a blank expression fall over his face. “It’s been a long time, Apprentice Archivist.”

“Quirrel is fine,” Quirrel muttered. “It’s a mouthful of a title and right now… it might be just Archivist while Madam sleeps.”

“Ah, right. The change of title slipped our mind, but hopefully that will not last for much longer.” Ghost facepalmed as they noticed the king had switched back into using the royal “we.”

The White Lady, on the other hand, beamed at Quirrel. “How have you been? It’s been a while since you’ve dropped by for a visit.”

“Has it?” he asked, sounding genuinely surprised. “I hadn’t realized it had been so long. I’ve been trying to keep myself busy and time’s sort of gotten away from me,” he explained with a nervous laugh. Awkwardly, he gestured to the hot spring. “Take a rest. The water’s wonderful here.” Ghost lightly smacked the water’s surface for emphasis while nodding in agreement. Hollow and Hornet jumped in with the White Lady soon following, leaving no room for argument.

The Pale King still had a blank expression on his face, even if his eyes were closed. Ghost swam over to him and sent him a private thought. _“Using we again?”_

The Pale King cracked open his eyes, then closed them again. _“Not family. Not close. Subject. My relationship with my subjects is just that, one of king and subject. Act like a king around them, simple as that.”_

In the back of their mind, Ghost was always acutely aware that the Pale King could communicate telepathically as well, but they were still floored when he actually spoke in their mind. His style of speech wasn’t even that different from theirs, maybe a little more coherent since they could tell he was speaking pretty casually right now without putting too much focus into his thoughts. _“But Quirrel’s my friend.”_

_“I understand, but he is still my subject. I certainly won’t urge you to keep a distance, quite the opposite, but I have certain duties and obligations. Quirrel is an admirable individual, but I cannot make a relationship between us on equal footing rather than feudal.”_

_“Do you not have friends?”_ Ghost asked.

_“No, that’s not quite it. I would certainly call your mother my best friend in addition to being my wife. Queen Herrah and I, although we disliked each other for a long time, did develop a close friendship of a sort. Frenemy, maybe? Not to say I don’t have friendships with subjects in my kingly persona, but they are of a different sort. The usual activities friends do are replaced with spending extra time with the individual or granting them leeway and favors. Lurien and I were fairly close, as was I with most of the Great Knights. I’ve had less to do with Monomon, but I would still consider her a good friend.”_

Ghost gave him a look. _“Did those subjects know you were friends?”_

The Pale King shrugged. _“Some of them, probably. Like I said, different kind of relationship.”_ Ghost sighed and let the matter drop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was slightly a filler chapter and a calm before the storm if you will. A lot more will be happening in the next one. Also, remember the song the Pale King was humming? Well, I was trying to describe an actual song in the soundtrack. I don’t know if I did well enough for anyone to tell which one, since it’s really hard to put an orchestral song into words, but the song does give a hint as to what happened to make him sacrifice himself. The part he hums is not technically the opening part, but it’s the first part you could actually hum.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is slightly killing me and I haven't had much time to work on this so updates might be a bit more sporadic and spaced out for a while. On another note, when I do get to write Monomon, I might have her mention some real information about electrostatics when talking about the charged lumaflies because I spent so much of the last month forcing that stuff into my brain.

“I still only slightly remember my visits here,” Quirrel commented as he stared up at the White Palace. The Pale King gave him a strange look and Quirrel quickly explained, “I lost my memory a while back and only recently recovered most of it.” The king nodded and started to walk inside.

Hollow was all over the place. They were peeking their head into rooms, looking excited, and dragging Ghost everywhere to show them things. Hornet was calmer, but Ghost could see she was also getting a little nostalgic. Ghost themself didn’t know where they were going but the Pale King apparently had a very specific goal in mind, even if he kept stopping for every detour of Hollow’s as well as Hornet’s, although she had very few comparatively. All Ghost knew was that wherever it was, it was pretty high up considering all the climbing and stairs they had to go up.

Eventually, Ghost tugged on his sleeve and thought furiously,  _ “Elevator?!” _

Thankfully, their meaning was understood. “That’s what we’re going to. Trust us, this is the quickest way.”

_ “...how high up?” _ Ghost asked.

“Tallest tower.”

Ghost fell silent, but just for a few seconds.  _ “I am so glad there aren’t buzzsaws anymore.” _

Hollow tilted their head.  _ “Like… the ones in Father’s workshop or the training room?” _

_ “YOU HAVE REAL BUZZSAWS?!” _

Everyone winced as Ghost’s mental shout projected into their minds. “Yes, they’re useful for cutting and aren’t bad obstacles for agility training, either. Relax, it’s nothing like the defenses in the dream, and you certainly don’t have to deal with them in any of the training rooms if you don’t want to. We think we’ve only used them for that purpose maybe… three or four times? They’re far too dangerous to be used on a regular basis.”

“What was that about using buzzsaws in your dream defenses?” the White Lady asked.

The Pale King coughed. “We… may have gone a little heavy on using buzzsaws for defenses.”

Ghost started pointing at various places as they walked.  _ “Buzzsaw there, buzzsaw over there. Lots of buzzsaws there, didn’t need to go that way so stayed away. Buzzsaw there. Moving buzzsaw there. No buzzsaws there, just moving spikes that impaled me fifteen times before I got past them.” _

“To be perfectly honest, we’re quite impressed you managed to get past all the defenses even once, much less twice,” the Pale King confessed.

_ “Plus your stupid Path of Pain,” _ Ghost muttered.

“Our what now?” the Pale King asked.

_ “Path of Pain? If someone wanted to design a wing with suffering and death as the theme? Saw a memory at the end.” _ Ghost felt like maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be more specific, since it had felt deeply personal when they had watched it, and it had been hidden behind the death path.

The Pale King tensed up, then rubbed his temple with one hand. “Ah… that’s… I—” He quickly stopped himself, then replied, “We did not create that intentionally. Making objects in dreams isn’t difficult, the hard part is making them purposeful. Sometimes things can manifest without conscious thought. We don’t doubt the memory was something we wanted to keep hidden, or close to ourself. In any case, something important would naturally be heavily guarded by the subconscious, and that was created with the rest of the defenses.”

Ghost glanced down, then privately said,  _ “Memory of you and Hollow sitting together.” _

The Pale King caught their eye, then nodded.  _ “That would make sense. I… thought about them a lot when making my defenses. Thinking of all the times I should have realized they weren’t empty.” _ Ghost felt a flash of despair before it was covered up.  _ “Nothing else?” _

_ “Just that. Lasted five seconds, maybe?” _

_ “I see.” _ For some reason, that seemed to trouble him, but a mask quickly fell over his countenance and he smoothed over any emotions he was projecting. After a few seconds of blankness, he seemed to return to normal. At last, they arrived at the elevator and ascended upward. It was a bit of a tight fit with all six of them. At some point in the ride, Hollow picked Ghost up to make more room, without any protest from the Lord of Shades. They liked being carried sometimes, it was a nice feeling when they didn’t have anything they wanted to do at the moment. Quirrel seemed fascinated by the chainless lift, peering upward and at the sides of the moving platform as if trying to figure out how it worked. The Pale King stared at him intently out of the corner of his eye, not turning his head and trying to be discrete about it, but Ghost still noticed. He didn’t seem upset or angry at all, though. It was more intrigue, maybe amusement?

Hollow kept holding Ghost as the lift slowed to a quick stop. It wasn’t another hallway like Ghost was expecting, just a small room with a balcony leading out into the open air. There was a pedestal in the center of the room, a pale orb placed on top of it. For some reason, it stood out even among the white of the walls, floor, and ceiling.

The Pale King approached it and placed all four of his hands on the smooth surface. He closed his eyes and the orb started to glow. His eyes opened again and he turned his head back around to look at them. “It would be a good idea to close your eyes now.”

They all complied. A second later, Ghost saw a flash of light behind their eyelids. Several long moments passed before the Pale King finally said, “You may open them again.” Ghost opened up their eyes and saw the orb glowing with white light. A similar light glowed outside the window, flooding into the room.

They stared at the orb and slowly, thoughts, knowledge, information, and emotions flooded through their mind.  _ King has returned. Hallownest will rebuild. All okay. Safe again. Security. Prosperity. _ They had to look away and stare at the Pale King, with an expression that said, “Really?”

“It’s simple and effective,” he justified. He sighed and glanced back at the elevator. “In the… hour or so we have to ourselves, we should get settled. Hollow, Hornet, you both remember where your rooms are, correct? Quirrel?”

“Unfortunately not, your majesty,” Quirrel admitted with a nervous chuckle.

“No matter, it’s not out of the way to show you,” the Pale King said dismissively. “Ghost, we’ll have to select one for you. There are a couple near your siblings’ that I think would be suitable.”

_ “O...kay?” _ Ghost just went limp in Hollow’s arm as they followed their father back onto the lift. The ride down was just as quiet as the way up. When they reached the bottom, Ghost struggled out of Hollow’s grasp and ran ahead, peering over the railings to get a better view of parts of the palace they had never been. It didn’t take long for Hollow to rush to their side, excitedly giving commentary and explanations on everything as they continued on their way.

_ “Private dining room there, only for special dinners. Meetings. Closed-door matters. Royal dining room down a floor. Ate dinner there when not expected to be in the dining hall. Rooms up here!” _ Hollow pointed at a flight of stairs and teleported to the top of the staircase.

The Pale King smiled. “We see you’ve gotten very good at controlling that ability. You used to have to materialize a fair ways up in the air.”

_ “Much better at appearing near the floor,” _ Hollow confirmed. They waited for everyone else to walk up the steps normally, then ran off with Ghost at their side down a corridor. Ghost noticed the Pale King point out a room to Quirrel, who entered it, before continuing.

They ran up to a door that had a seal on it, one that was quickly dispelled by the Pale King, then stopped, their hand frozen in place just above the latch to open it. Ghost looked up at them.  _ “Your room?” _

Hollow nodded, glanced down at them, then privately sent them a collection of thoughts.  _ “Love it here, safe space, but last time I was here… Cried. Scared. Wanted to do a good job. Wanted to save everyone. But really upset. Didn’t want to leave. Never cried before. Didn’t feel good.” _

Ghost reached up and patted them on the forearm.  _ “It’s alright. New memories now, right?” _

Hollow nodded, then asked, projecting the question to everyone this time,  _ “Did you do anything with my room? Make it into a guest room?” _ Their tone was curious, like they could see both the affirmative and negative response to that question.

The Pale King and White Lady shook their heads. “We didn’t want to disturb it. Even when we thought you were empty and would be locked in the Black Egg for all of eternity, we still thought it was important to leave it as it was, as if it was waiting for you,” the Pale King explained, and from the way the White Lady was nodding along, Ghost thought his use of “we” in this context wasn’t just the royal one.

Hollow nodded, and finally opened the door. Ghost was immediately struck by how fancy it was. It was almost twice the size of any of their rooms in their house in Dirtmouth, and those were certainly not small either. The bed was pretty big, too, with a veiled canopy overtop and pillows stacked up at the head of the bed. There was a bookshelf on the opposite side of the room and a table near the bed, but other than that there wasn’t much in the line of furniture, giving the room a lot of empty space. On the wall, nails were lined up in a row, going from around the size of Ghost’s to only slightly smaller than Hollow’s current weapon.

Hollow took a few steps inside, glanced around, then teleported over the bed so they fell down into the plush mess. Dust flew up around them, but they didn’t seem to care as they burrowed into the blankets. The Pale King stared at them in their bed, and smiled, looking almost relieved. Ghost supposed that seeing them back in their room brought some kind of comfort to him, like they were back safe where they were supposed to be. “I suppose we’ll have to decorate it a bit more,” he admitted, switching back to using singular pronouns since Quirrel was out of earshot. “I was… never really able to ask you what you wanted in it.”

_ “I’ll think on it,” _ Hollow replied, resting their head on a pillow.

After a while, the Pale King inclined his head toward the hallway. “Would you like a room near Hollow’s, Ghost?”

They nodded excitedly. The Pale King led them to the room right next door, and they were just about to open it when something caught their eye. Both the door across from Hollow’s and this one had seals on them. They thought it was strange and filed it away for later as they finally opened the door.

The room was very similar to Hollow’s, except even emptier. There was a bookshelf, but only a handful of books on the shelves. There was a bed and table in the same position as in Hollow’s, but no decorations on the walls. Ghost glanced up at the Pale King, who was also inspecting the room, as if making sure it was to his standards and suitable for his child, then dashed across the room and faceplanted into the bed. It was soft and cushy, minus all the dust. Definitely something they could sleep in.  _ “I like it,” _ they stated.

The Pale King smiled. “Glad to hear it.” Ghost noticed him step out of the room and wave his hand. As he did so, the seal on the door across from Hollow’s vanished. Hornet opened the door, and although Ghost couldn’t see what was inside they assumed it was her room. She didn’t go inside, but looked satisfied and closed the door again. The Pale King’s eyes glazed over for a second, then he sighed. “You stay here and get settled. I have business to attend to, sooner than I was expecting.”

“You just set off a literal blinding light in a dark kingdom desperate for any kind of guidance coupled with ‘comforting’ telepathic messages,” Hornet deadpanned.

The Pale King gave her a look. “I’m aware of that, but still, the speed surprises me,” he muttered. “Stay here, okay? Unless I come and get you.”

Ghost watched him and the White Lady leave, considered completely ignoring his request, then decided maybe they didn’t want to deal with that kind of chaos. Stabbing things trying to kill them was a completely different beast than courtly intrigue and politics.

They wandered down the hallway until they reached Quirrel’s open door. This one looked a lot more like a guest room than someone’s full-time bedroom. It was still very fancy, but the decorations and general layout didn’t have a very personalized feeling to it, like they were just there to look nice. Quirrel was pursuing a bookcase that, like Ghost’s room, had only a handful of books. He looked up when he noticed Ghost at the door. “I wish I could remember staying here before, but nothing really looks familiar,” he commented with a slightly sad laugh. “How’s your room?”

_ “Nice. Soft bed. Want to decorate it,” _ Ghost replied, walking over and hitting the covers on Quirrel’s bed to test it. Quirrel smiled and jumped on the bed, lying down and putting his hands behind his head.

“I could certainly get used to this,” he said with a sigh. “But I would like to get back to the Archives sooner rather than later. I didn’t expect to be away for so long when I left this morning.”

_ “How soon?” _ Ghost asked.

“I’ll stick around until tomorrow, just in case I’m needed, but there are experiments I need to attend to. Besides, I don’t like to leave Madam alone for more than a day.” Quirrel’s expression faltered when he mentioned Monomon. “I also need to retrieve those notes for the king. Hopefully he’ll be able to wake her up soon.”

Ghost nodded as Hollow and Hornet entered the room, apparently coming to see where they had run off to. Quirrel waved at them as they came over to sit on the bed. “You two look happy to be back,” he commented conversationally.

_ “Room safe place, private, love it!” _ Hollow beamed.

“I did leave some things in here I’m glad to have back,” Hornet admitted. “Still, I don’t have quite the attachment Hollow does to their room. Even in my childhood, I never stayed in one place for long. I had my room in Deepnest, my one here, and one in the Hive. I’d go between them frequently. It wasn’t uncommon for me to eat dinner in the palace and go back to Deepnest to sleep.”

A thought occurred to Ghost.  _ “Why was that other room sealed?” _ they asked. Both Hollow and Hornet shrugged.

_ “Open when I left. It’s a guest room. Not commonly used one, though,” _ Hollow explained.  _ “Too close to royal family’s rooms. After Xero, security became a bigger issue. Barely even used before though, maybe once when I first came here? Not sure.” _

“It wasn’t sealed when I went to live in the Hive full time, either,” Hornet added.

_ “Maybe it has something to do with Father’s…” _ Hollow thoughts turned to static as they struggled to come up with a description.

“Mental breakdown,” Hornet finished.

_ “No! Why would you even say that?” _ Hollow demanded.

“You mean aside from the fact that his immediate reaction was to end his own life?” Hornet asked.

_ “He was trying to save everyone!” _ Hollow argued.

“True, and I’m sure he was, but the circumstances are… concerning,” Hornet replied. “Think about the timeline. He found out you weren’t empty. Time passed. He tried to find another solution, without much success. Something happened that he and Stepmother won’t talk about. Immediately afterward, he sacrificed himself. An act that he himself admitted was unlikely to do anything more than buy time. Perhaps mental breakdown is the wrong term to use, but I don’t believe he was in the right frame of mind when he made the decision he did.” She sighed and crossed her arms. “He either didn’t care if he lived or died, or something happened to made him think that saving people in the present, that prolonging the inevitable, was more important than fixing the problem for good. And knowing Father, the second one is less likely unless whatever happened was something that he’d be prepared to amend one of his core values for.”

Ghost, Hollow, and Quirrel all stared at her. The gravity of the situation slowly dawned on them. Ghost had accepted the Pale King’s odd behavior as vaguely worrying and knew the incident the White Lady had referred to was pretty serious, but they hadn’t quite internalized how bad the effects had to have been.

The sound of muffled cheering broke the silence. Apparently the king’s return was going over well. Ghost ran over to the doorway.  _ “Break seal?” _ they suggested.  _ “Open door, try to find out what happened?” _

_ “Bad idea.” _ Hollow shut it down right away.  _ “Father would find out immediately. Doesn’t want us in there. Doesn’t want anyone in there. Might be dangerous. Might be really personal. Leave it be.” _

“It would not be a good idea to break in without even trying to ask permission first,” Hornet agreed. She stretched her arms over her head. “I think I’ll retire for the night. Can’t be asked to make any kind of political appearance if I’m asleep.”

_ “Think anyone from Dirtmouth is out there?” _ Ghost asked.

“Don’t know, maybe,” Hornet replied. “All the more reason to make sure we can’t be dragged out there for any reason.” She turned around and left. After a few seconds, Ghost said goodnight to Quirrel and Hollow and returned to their room.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of angst in this one. Mostly past angst, but still.

The next few days were primarily spent hiding.

Several of the old retainers had survived the Infection and bugs were almost lining up to apply to fill vacancies in the staff of the palace, so the place was a flurry with people moving in and getting accustomed.

The Pale King hadn’t gotten a moment to himself since his official return. To his credit, he had successfully deflected all inquiry into his children. All he had said about them so far was confirming he had children who were possible heirs to the throne, but had shut down all insistence that they be presented to the public and while rumors still circulated, no one was on a hunt trying to find out who they were. That was also why the three siblings were very careful about not being seen inside the palace, leaving the palace, or returning to the palace. They had only been able to successfully get out for some breathing room once, and that was a very touch and go escape attempt that ultimately resulted in the three of them jumping out of a fourth story window.

Ghost paced in their room. They had read all their books, their siblings were both doing their own things, and they were bored out of their mind. They wanted to fight something, or explore, or just run around. They poked their head out the door and looked around. No one coming down the corridors. With a deep breath, they softly closed the door behind them and took off in the direction of the main entrance, which was unfortunately the only one they knew of. A more thorough tour of the palace as a whole had been put on hold by the need for anonymity.

The sound of footsteps made them dash behind a statue. They stayed completely still, barely breathing, as a couple of retainers walked past, chatting to each other.

“How many do you suppose he has?”

“Aren’t higher beings not supposed to have children together at all? I’d be surprised if it was more than just the one.”

“No, one of them was with the Queen of Deepnest, and he indicated at least one was with the White Lady. So that’s two at minimum.”

“Why won’t they just make an appearance?”

“Not sure, maybe the king is reassessing the order of succession and wants to make it official before making a public announcement?”

They moved out of earshot and Ghost breathed a sigh of relief. They dashed off on their way again, but a thought crept into their mind. Inheritance. Hallownest was a sort of hereditary meritocracy, just like most of the tribes and other groups within it as well as Deepnest. That usually meant the parent in question would designate the order of succession within their children. Ghost highly doubted he had made one in the past, when he thought Hollow was empty, but now it was a little more important. He probably wasn’t going to die anytime soon, or even in the distant future, maybe ever in the lifespan of the kingdom, but it was still something that would have to be addressed. He would have to pick a crown prince or princess.

Ghost slowed from their run into a walk, then stopped completely. They had the king’s brand. They were a higher being. They had stopped the Radiance. He would probably pick them.

They didn’t want to be the next monarch.

Even if it was a far-flung possibility, even if it would never happen, they didn’t want to even be next in line. That was too much pressure. Too many expectations. And it would be for a job they didn’t even want in the first place.

They heard someone coming and froze, darting their eyes around. They couldn’t see anything to hide behind this time. They hadn’t passed anything recently they could use to hide behind either, at least nothing they could run to before they got caught. This would be a great time to just melt into the floor.

They had barely had that desire for two seconds before they saw the world melt around them and rise. They felt a little like they did when they turned into their void form, but without their body reforming. It was calming, comforting, and they just stayed like that. They felt themself descending and did nothing to stop it, just relaxing.

It wasn’t until they fell into the void sea that they thought they should probably do something about the whole “not being solid” thing. They turned into their Lord of Shades form, but stayed in the sea. They weren’t sure why, but they were never bored when in the void. It was like relaxing in a hot spring, only more… intense almost.

They didn’t know how long they had been there before  _ something _ hit the void. It wasn’t something physical falling in, it felt more like a light pushing at the void, but it wasn’t as strong or intrusive as what came from the lighthouse. Ghost lifted their head just enough to see out of the void sea and probably shouldn’t have been as surprised as they were to see the Pale King. They noticed him tense up, then he lowered his hand and the light vanished. Ghost rose up and looked down at him, tilting their head to one side.  _ “Supposed to be busy? What are you doing here?” _

They noticed all the remaining tension leave him as he heard their voice in his head. “First of all, I would’ve appreciated you giving me a head’s up that you can turn into liquid void,” the Pale King said with a deadpan.

_ “How’d you know?” _

“Void stains,” he replied, giving them a look. “Plus some retainers saw void dripping from the ceiling and sinking into the floor and given that you were gone, I put two and two together.”

_ “Oops,” _ Ghost muttered sheepishly.  _ “I just found out I could today. Someone was coming. Didn’t want to be seen. Wanted to sink into the floor. Magic takes that literally?” _

“Just glad you’re alright,” the Pale King sighed. “Hollow and Hornet thought I might find you here, and given that I hadn’t actually seen your other form yet, I figured it would be a good excuse to escape the nobles and my duties for a little while.”

_ “Palace is getting stifling,” _ Ghost agreed.

“It will be calm again soon, then you can walk around without fear of speculation about your presence there,” the Pale King replied. He tilted his head to one side. “Is that all that’s bothering you?” Ghost didn’t reply. He sighed and sat down. “You need more practice hiding underlying emotions. It’s passable if you’re talking with someone less experienced, but I can still notice.”

_ “Just more worries,” _ Ghost muttered.

“About?” the Pale King prompted. Ghost didn’t reply again. The Pale King waited for a while, then shrugged. “Alright, I will not force you to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

They stayed in silence for a while. Eventually, the Pale King started inspecting their form more closely. “Out of curiosity, do you have legs in this form or not?”

Ghost shook their head.  _ “Just a tail.” _ They thought about it for a second, then added,  _ “Kinda wyrm-like.” _

He nodded. “Makes sense. When transformations do occur during ascension, they’re rarely completely random.”

_ “What was yours like?” _ Ghost asked.  _ “Did even you have one?” _

“I assume you’re referring to wyrms’ reputations as powerful beings?” the Pale King asked. “My kind is certainly powerful, but no, we’re not all higher beings. We’d have died out a long time ago if that was the case,” he added with a laugh. “No, I certainly had an ascension, like every other higher being. It was fairly subtle, though. I was just in a fight with another wandering wyrm when it happened. There wasn’t any transformation like with you, I just felt a rush of power, my foresight increased a hundredfold, and I started to glow. The battle didn’t last for much longer after that. Afterward, I stopped glowing and just went about my day. It took a while to get used to all my new powers, though.”

_ “How old were you?” _ Ghost asked.

The Pale King hummed as he thought. “I’m not sure, really. Young adulthood is all I can tell you, but wyrms don’t really keep track of that kind of thing, being functionally immortal and all. We basically just kept going until we were killed or died some other way.”

They fell into silence again. Ghost wracked their mind trying to think of something else to ask. He probably wasn’t going to answer any questions about “the incident” but he was sticking around, so he was probably willing to talk about other things, and there was a lot Ghost didn’t know. They didn’t know how he met their mother, how he founded Hallownest, what it was like raising their siblings, hell, they didn’t even know his name. Wait a second…

_ “What’s your name? Realized I have no idea,” _ Ghost asked, tacking on the half-apology at the end.

The Pale King looked surprised. “I thought you would’ve heard it at least once, although, maybe you didn’t realize that’s what it was,” he added after a moment’s thought. “It’s Wyrm.”

_ “Isn’t your species called wyrms?” _ Ghost asked.

“Yes, but Wyrm is a… sort of common name, although unusual to see in someone like me,” the Pale King explained.

_ “What do you mean?” _

The Pale King crossed his arms and thought for a second. “Wyrms have different naming traditions than those in Hallownest. Children here choose their name when they find one that suits them. They may take suggestions from family or friends, but it is ultimately their choice. In wyrm culture, parents choose their children’s names when they are hatched.”

Ghost blinked in surprise.  _ “What if name doesn’t suit them? What if they don’t like their name? Why?” _

“It’s simply a different way of doing things, our naming conventions would be just as alien to someone unaccustomed to it,” the Pale King explained. “Anyway, there are some names that have a special meaning to them. For instance, Fortem is commonly given to an especially strong hatchling, Occisor is given to a particularly ferocious hatchling or one who injured or killed one of their siblings within moments of hatching, Geminae and Connatus are given to twins born from the same egg, and you get the picture.”

Ghost tilted their head to the side.  _ “Like Hollow and I? Hatched from same egg.” _

“Yes, like— wait, you what?” the Pale King demanded.

Ghost nodded.  _ “I just stayed in the abyss. Caused stasis. Didn’t age down here. Didn’t grow up. So Hollow’s older, but we’re twins.” _

“I missed you even when I was actively checking?” the Pale King demanded, looking horrified. He put his head in one hand. “I really hope I have not left any more children down here,” he muttered, sounding worried. “I should’ve noticed. Should’ve paid more attention—”

_ “Haven’t noticed any. Talking about names?” _ Ghost prompted, trying to distract him.

“A- ah, right. Anyway, it’s also common to go with a theme when you’re naming your children. It can be anything, but my parents went with colors for my siblings. Usually the theme is only broken if there’s a name with an appropriate meaning that would suit the hatchling better, like in my case.”

_ “So what does Wyrm mean?” _

The Pale King paused for a moment. “My clutch was a very large one. Usually they’re between four and eleven eggs. Mine was fifteen. In clutches that large, usually there are a couple eggs that don’t hatch. That’s not something most parents are upset about in those cases, since it becomes harder to get food for so many children. However, unexpectedly, all the eggs in my clutch hatched. Thirteen eggs or less hatching would have been the number that they needed to ensure everyone would have full bellies, so naturally, there was a problem. I hatched last and… well…”

He looked down, took a deep breath, and finally explained, “Wyrm is a name given to the hatchling, or hatchlings, who weren’t supposed to live, and who wouldn’t be taken care of.”

Ghost froze.  _ “What?” _

“Wyrms don’t kill their young, but it doesn’t mean they wanted me alive. They wouldn’t kick me out of the nest, but it meant they wouldn’t feed me. I wasn’t allowed to curl up with my parents for warmth. They wouldn’t intentionally teach me like they did my siblings, I say intentionally because that didn’t stop me from watching from the sidelines. If I died, they’d throw the body out and go on with their lives without a moment’s thought,” the Pale King explained. “I was not the only one of my siblings with that designation. The one who hatched right before me was also named Wyrm. He had a fairly weak constitution when he hatched and didn’t live too long. One night, he just died curled up next to me trying to keep warm.”

He said it all very matter-of-factly, like that was just the way things were, like he wasn’t talking about his sibling dying in front of him and being basically abandoned at birth. Ghost realized that both of those things sort of happened to them as well in some capacity, but the circumstances were completely different. There was no Infection. There was no fighting and killing. It wasn’t like no one was there to help either. There was. There were parents who let one of their children die of neglect, and who were willing to do the same to another. Not only that, they were willing to watch it happen without trying to do anything to help. Somehow, that felt worse.

The Pale King continued, apparently not noticing Ghost’s horror. “That’s why I said it was an unusual name to see in someone like me, someone alive. Most that share my name don’t make it to adolescence, much less adulthood.”

_ “What. The actual. F—” _

_ “LANGUAGE.” _ The Pale King projected that command into their mind before their thought even finished. He paused, then admitted, “Not that I disagree with the sentiment. Even understanding why they did it still makes it unjustifiable in my mind. I think I’d feel that way even if I was one of the ones they considered their child.” His eyes narrowed. “They made a choice to pretend like two of their children didn’t exist just because it made things easier. What’s somehow worse is that the practice is common enough to have a name that basically means ‘worthless’ because of it.”

He glanced behind him, at the walls of the abyss, and at the lifeless bodies of Ghost’s siblings, his children that never lived, that either had the eggs holding their lifeless bodies broken or having hatched then dying almost immediately. “Life is funny,” he muttered bitterly. “I used to tell myself I’d never do that to my children. Even if I had too large of a clutch, even if resources were scarce, I told myself I’d do whatever it took to provide for all of them. Then I met Root, and our only chance at having a child was by making millions of egg-seeds, infusing them with void, and hoping that just one would live, and that they wouldn’t be empty. Just like my parents expected thirteen children, I only expected maybe one.” He hung his head. “And of course history decided to repeat itself exactly with my clutch.”

_ “You didn’t mean to abandon me,” _ Ghost replied, the thought coming as a bit of a surprise to them. They thought they had accepted the fact, but saying it somehow made it more real.  _ “You didn’t pretend like I didn’t exist. You didn’t know I existed. Different. Very different thing.” _ They butted their head against the Pale King’s hand. He looked surprised by the gesture, but patted Ghost’s forehead in between their eyes after a moment.

“Thank you,” he muttered. His gaze turned back toward the mountains of bodies. “I never understood how they couldn’t feel anything when he died,” he commented, his voice gaining a strained tone. “Even if they had pushed him aside, decided he and I shouldn’t live, I don’t know how they could just throw out his body like he never mattered and move on with their lives without a second thought. I couldn’t even do that when I thought Hollow was empty, and they weren’t even dead then. How could they have watched their child die in front of them? How could they have done nothing? They could’ve stopped it, they could have saved him. They had a chance to save their child’s life, I didn’t—” He stopped very abruptly. “They never even understood what they lost,” he continued in a calmer voice.

_ “How did you survive?” _ Ghost asked hesitantly.

He actually smiled. “For a while, by just stealing what I could and hunting whatever small prey I could find. As my siblings and I grew, however— well, in wyrm clutches, we usually don’t all get along. It’s fairly common for smaller groups to form out of the clutch of siblings who want to work together. Many times they’re just temporary alliances, but some last until we’re ready to stake out our own territory. Anyway, I was lucky enough to be a part of one of those groups that lasted. Just because our parents pretended I didn’t exist didn’t mean my siblings did. I certainly wasn’t popular, but to be fair, most of my clutch was at each other’s throats so no one really was.

“I don’t remember how, but two of my siblings and I ended up gravitating toward each other. Maybe it was because we were always odd by wyrm standards, maybe we just liked each other’s company, maybe it was because we all absolutely hated so many things of wyrm tradition, probably a mixture of all of those things. They didn’t like how I was treated, they didn’t like senseless violence, and they certainly shared my curiosity about everything. They ended up sharing the food our parents gave them with me. As we grew older, I helped them when our stronger siblings were growing into their territorial instincts and started picking fights. I even showed them how to hunt before our parents did. We were a team, and we thrived by working together.”

_ “Where are they?” _ Ghost asked.  _ “Now, I mean? Wait, probably don’t know that. Did they used to visit? Do you think they’re worried?” _

The Pale King gave them a wry smile. “I told you, alliances last until we stake out our own territory. They just… can’t function beyond that point, for one reason or another.”

_ “You don’t talk anymore?” _

The Pale King sighed. “We stayed together for longer than most do. We even put off finding our own territory until we found a mate, preferring to be wanderers if it meant we wouldn’t be alone. We certainly had a bit of a… vigilante streak to our journeys. If we found a wyrm or other creature acting like a tyrant toward smaller or weaker bugs, we’d get involved. It was fun, but it had to come to an end one day. We all knew one of us would leave sooner or later. For a while, it looked like Verdant had found a mate and would be the first to leave, but that courtship fell apart rather nastily. Still, it felt like the beginning of the end, and that turned out to be true. It wasn’t too long after that I first found Hallownest, and first met Root. It wasn’t much later that I knew that this was my new territory, that I was her mate, and she was mine.

“I knew that I would have to give up my form, and that a full-sized wyrm couldn’t live or coexist happily here. It was over, however I sliced it. Even if my siblings would have given up their forms as well in order to maintain our little group, I couldn’t ask them to do that. It’s irreversible after all, and even if they were okay with that, it would mean probably never having their own, independent territories. It was just easier to tell them I had found a mate, and part ways. I’m sure they assumed she was another wyrm, and most wyrms aren’t exactly okay with their mate’s families hanging around. I didn’t dissuade that notion.”

_ “So… you have no idea what happened to them after that?” _

“Maybe they’re still together, maybe they have mates now, maybe they have clutches of their own. I couldn’t say. I haven’t felt them nearby for a long time, although maybe I couldn’t even tell unless they reached out to me, it’s been that long,” he explained.

_ “But… why didn’t you let them choose?” _ Ghost asked.  _ “Feels a lot like abandoning.” _

“I’ve wondered myself if I should’ve done things differently, but at the time, I thought this was inevitable, and holding onto something that was always going to break was just going to cause more pain than letting it go,” the Pale King explained. “I had to be realistic about what was possible and what wasn’t.”

_ “Didn’t you pick a territory fight with the strongest higher being?” _

“The stakes were very different. Also, isn’t there a saying about swinging your nail in a glass house?” the Pale King asked. It may have been Ghost’s imagination, but his tone almost sounded like he was teasing them. He soon turned somber again. “That was actually another consideration in my decision to leave them in the dark. If things ever went wrong with The Radiance, I didn’t want them to get involved or fall in the crossfires. As you know very well, she would happily hurt non-higher beings without a second thought, especially if it worked to her advantage.” He sighed and rested his head on one hand. “But that was a long time ago. Long before your egg even existed.”

_ “What about Mother? She have any other family?” _

“Not that we know of. Plants are… a little different. Seeds can be spread far and wide and lay dormant for ages. We’ve never seen another quite like her, and I’ve done my fair share of travelling. It’s likely either she’s from lands far, far away or her seed was dormant for a very long time,” the Pale King explained. He tilted his head up and gestured in the direction of the entrance to the abyss. “It’s getting late. We should be heading back.”

_ “Want me to carry you?” _ Ghost offered, holding out one of their hands.

The Pale King looked surprised by the offer, then hesitantly stepped onto their palm. “Very well, although please don’t drop me. Even though I have wings, I really don’t like having to start flying midfall when I’m not expecting it.”

_ “I don’t drop people,” _ Ghost replied, sounding offended as they started to move toward the entrance.  _ “I am very careful.” _

“I know you are.” The Pale King patted one of their fingers as Ghost reached the platform. He stepped off and turned back around just in time to see Ghost’s form twist and shift back into their normal self. He gently patted their head and walked with them back into the ancient basin.


End file.
